Burdens Of A Dragon
by Coco Gash Jirachi
Summary: Sequel to Silver Lining. Yusei still hasn't returned, and Jack appears before the Fudo family bearing a second letter from Yusei.... What is Godwin up to? And how did Akira come to be? JackxYusei. KiryuxCrow.
1. Duelist At The Door

_**Burdens Of A Dragon**_

_**By Coco Gash Jirachi**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own 5D's, Genji, Tenshi or Hikaru**_

**_Claimer: I _DO_ own Hikari and Akira!_**

_**Summary: Sequel to Silver Lining. Yusei still hasn't returned, and Jack appears before the Fudo family bearing a second letter from Yusei.... What is Godwin up to? And how did Akira come to be? JackxYusei. KiryuxCrow.**_

* * *

"We're going out for a while, now. Okay?" Hikaru asked as she pulled on her fleece jacket.

"Where to?" Hikari asked.

"Picnic on the beach," Hikaru responded with a smile.

"Have fun, Sissy-cha! Blitzu-chan!" Hikari said with a smile. She pulled the rubber nipple from Akira's mouth and laid him on her shoulder, patting his back.

"I'll go grab the basket from the kitchen," Hikaru said as Blitz placed on his gray messenger hat, adjusting his ponytail so it would be hidden beneath it. "I'll meet you outside, kay?"

"Sure thing." Blitz said, buttoning up his jacket.

They exchanged smiles before Hikaru turned and headed back towards the kitchen.

"So, what's the story behind the picnic, Blitzu-chama?" Rally asked, sitting upside-down on the couch. "Are you gonna propose to her during dessert?"

"Zip the lips, kid," Blitz responded, adjusting his hat and hair again. "We've only been going steady for over a month; I'm not ready to make any life-changing decisions such as that. Besides, I doubt she's even ready for that."

"I think all that counts is that Sissy-cha is happy," Hikari said, letting Akira greedily drink down the rest of the milk in his bottle.

"When do you and Nerve go back to work, again?" Rally asked.

"We're going to start working part-time at Genji's shop a few days a week starting next week." Blitz responded. "He can't jump right back in immediately, he just had heart surgery."

"Well it's a good thing that he doesn't have to go through all of that pain again," Rally said.

"We should be back in an hour or two," Blitz began, turning the door knob and opening the door a bit. "If there's any problems, just call us."

"Can do," Rally responded.

When Blitz opened the door more to step out, his eyes widened. Stiff for only a moment, he then slammed it shut, locked the chain lock, locked the padlock, and pushed down the button on the door knob. Letting out a shaky breath, he squinted one eye to look out the peep-hole. He jerked away from the door and fell over onto his bottom.

"Blitzu, what's the matter?" Rally asked.

"Ralls, come on, sit upright. It's bad to let all of the blood rush to your head for too long." Hikaru said, helping the red-head sit back up again. "Blitz, what is going on?"

All of a sudden, a pounding knock came from the door along with the constant ringing of the doorbell.

**_"Get the hell away from here!!"_** Blitz shouted, standing back up and looking back out the peep-hole. **_"Before I call Security!!"_**

_**"OPEN THIS DOOR, BLITZKRIEG!!!"**_

**_"I'm sorry, we're fresh out of D-Wheels for you to steal!!"_** Blitz shouted.

**_"I'll make you a deal,"_** called the voice, only less loudly. _**"Open the door before I call someone to knock it down for me!!"**_

_**"Tough cookies!! I ain't opening it up!!"**_

_**"Holy snot!! Ten-chan, what's Atlas Jack doing at your door?!"**_ Lua's voice called.

_**"Jack?!"**_

**Yusei: "Duelist At The Door."**

**_"Open the fucking door, Blitzkrieg!!"_**

**_"For Lua and Luka, yes!! For you? Try again next Thursday!!"_**

_"He isn't leaving, Blitz-chan..."_ Luka said.

**_"Open the fucking door before I have you reported to Security!!"_**

**_"Report us? You're the one attempting to break and enter!!"_**

**_"Do you think I'm a baka-head? I know about this Saiga character!! He broke you kids out of the Satellite!!"_**

**_"Yeah, and you broke yourself out!!"_**

**_"Would you rather shout with me all day or open the door?!"_**

"Blitzu, we can't risk it! Jack could be serious!" Rally said. "If he reports us, we could be given the death penalty, and Kami knows what they'll do to Saiga-kun!"

"Where the hell is Taka when we need him?..." Blitz asked.

_**"I'm going to say this one last time, Blitzkrieg!! Open. The. Fucking. DOOR!!!"**_

_**"All right, all right, all right!! Fine, I'll open the door!!...**_ On one condition..."

_**"And that being what?"**_

"Ask politely." Blitz said.

_**"... Politely?"**_

"Politely."

"Blitz, what the hell are you doing?" Hikaru asked.

"Karu, if I know Jack, if this is something important enough he'll struggle to be polite enough if asked to do so, and if it isn't he'll shrug it off, shout 'screw it', run home with his tail between his legs, masturbate, and fall asleep."

"Ah, memories..." Rally said.

"... Ma-masturbate and fall asleep?" Hikaru questioned, raising an eye brow.

_**"Okay, okay, okay!!"**_ Jack called. **_"I'll use my fucking manners!!"_**

"Good, good." Blitz responded. "Lua, Luka, you're my witnesses. Vouch for me, and if he doesn't say it, tell me so, okay?"

_"What's in it for us?"_ Lua asked before he was heard whining - Luka elbowing him in the side, no doubt.

"I'll give you a fudgesicle."

_**"IT'S A DEAL!!!"**_

_**"... Open the door... please, Blitzkrieg..."**_

"I can't hear you..." Blitz responded.

_**"OPEN THE DOOR, PLEASE!!!"**_

"Bingo," Blitz said, unlocking the locks and opened the door. Almost immediately after, Jack stormed in, his head down low, face a burning red, pulling the collar of his jacket up to hide his face.

"Hiya, Jack!!" Rally said, approaching the blonde with open arms.

_**"Don't touch me; don't touch my person!!"**_ Jack said, shoving Rally away with a hand to the red-head's face.

"A casual _'No hugs now, Rally'_ would have sufficed like old times..." Rally said, staring at him and sweat-dropping.

"Where's my fudgesicle?" Lua asked, holding his dark blue cell phone in his hand.

"Lua!! Be polite; we're visitors!!" Luka said.

"That's okay, Blitz did promise you fudgesicles." Hikaru said. "I'll just go grab them from the freezer."

"Thank you, Onee-chan!!" Lua said with a smile.

"Your very welcome," Hikaru responded with a smile before she headed into the kitchen.

"Oh yeah, Blitz-chan!! You wanna see Jack saying 'please'?" Lua asked, holding up his cell phone. "I got it on video!!"

**_"That tears it, I'M KILLING THAT KID!!!"_**

Blitz calmly kept Jack at bay with his hand atop of the blonde's head whilst looking down at Lua's phone screen. He cracked a grin at the sight of Jack's embarrassed, red face, chuckling as he saw and heard Jack explode.

"Jesus, Jack. What's wrong with you?" Rally asked.

"Professional duelists have reputations to keep," Tenpei said. "If that leaked out to the media, he'd be the embarrassment of the entire dueling world for an whole week!"

"I've got fudgesicles!!" Hikaru said, walking back into the living room with the box in her hands.

"Yay!! Fudgesicles!!" Lua exclaimed, running over to her.

"Here you go, Lua-chan!" Hikaru said, handing him one.

"Arigatou, Onee-chan!!"

_**"YES!!! I ERASED IT!!!"**_

"Jack, you are one sad, lonely bastard..."

"Thank you, Nee-chan, for the fudgesicle." Luka said as Hikaru handed her one.

"No problem!" Hikaru responded. "Ralls, you want one, too?"

"Yes, please!!" Rally said.

"Here you are. And Tenpei, here's one for you and-"

Hikaru blinked.

"Nani? Where did Lil' Light go?"

Tenpei blinked, looking to his left. All that was left where Hikari had sat before was Akira's bottle.

* * *

"Hikari-chan?"

Tenpei's eyes filled with worry when he saw the silver-haired girl huddled in the corner of her dark room. Akira was held in her arms, and she seemed to be shaking.

"Kari, are you okay?" Tenpei asked, approaching her.

"Ten-kun, I have a bad feeling..." she whispered.

"Bad feeling?"

"Yeah..." Hikari looked up at him. "Ten-kun, Jack is a Signer. Akira is a Signer."

_**"Nani?!"**_ Tenpei exclaimed. _**"Akira's a-"**_

_"Ssssh!!"_ Hikari shushed. _"They could hear us!!"_

"Akira's a Signer?" Tenpei asked in a more low tone.

"Hai... he is..." Hikari responded.

"But... Luka-chan's a Signer! Akira's had no trouble around her!" Tenpei said.

"Jack's different..." Hikari responded. "Tenpei-kun, just now, Jack made my head feel bang-bang ow-ow again."

"He... he did?..."

"Hai..." Hikari responded. "And, the night after I was kidnapped..."

"... Wh-what?..."

"... Jack could have done something to create Akira's existence..." Hikari responded. "My memory of then is mostly blank... I don't know what happened; maybe I was asleep, but I have this feeling I wasn't. Somehow, I was conscious, but the memories are just... blocked."

"It's okay; that can happen sometimes..." Tenpei responded. "But..."

"Ten-kun, I don't know why, but I'm scared of Jack..."

"He kidnapped you!! You have every right to be afraid of him!!"

Hikari turned her complete attention to Akira as he began to wriggle. She rocked him, staring down at his small body.

"Ten-kun..."

Tenpei's eyes watered as Hikari's did.

"I don't want him to take Akira away!!"

* * *

_**To Be Continued...**_

Gash: ~.~ Hm... (Eating a fudgesicle)

Aki: The chapter's over already...

Gash: Oh? It is?

Aki: (Nods)

Gash: ~_____~ I see...

Aki: ... So...

Gash: What?

Aki: _**GET ON WITH IT!!!**_

Gash: Oh, right!! Sorry!! (Shoves another fudgesicle into Aki's mouth)

Aki: -.-'''''' (Growling)

Gash: So, yeah... I started the sequel sooner than I thought I would!! Got my ideas for this rolling quicker than I thought...

Zeon: Rolling along like on a roller-coaster.

Gash: (Holds arms up in air, swinging around like on a roller-coaster) _**WHEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!! ROLLY-COASTER!!!!!!!!!!**_

(Several hours later...)

Gash: Whoo!! That trip to Six Flags was fun!! ^-^

Zeon: I enjoyed it very fully.

Gash: Anywho, I hope y'all like this so far!! And dun worry, the next chapter should be up ASAP, possible tomorrow or the next day most likely, but considering all of the homework I have to do this weekend, I'm a little unsure at the moment...

Aki: Yep...

Gash: But anywho, the story continues here in _Burdens Of A Dragon!!_ **_NOW REVIEW, PLEASE!!!_** ***^-^***

Zeon: Review or Jack will throw a hissy-fit.

Jack: **_I WILL NOT!!!_**

* * *


	2. Crying In The Dark

"So, Jack,"

Blitz crossed his arms.

"Now that you've calmed down some, do you mind telling us why you came here?" the bluenette asked.

"Look, don't think of this as a casual visit." Jack said. "Do you know how long I was standing out there?"

"How should we know?" Blitz asked.

"Three hours."

"So you were eavesdropping on us?"

"Not on purpose, don't flatter yourself." Jack responded. "You slums talk about the stupidest things." He turned his head and looked at Rally. "Really, who the hell wants to know what color your boogers are today?"

"What color are they?" Lua asked, licking away at his fudgesicle.

"Yellow with bits of green, and I swear I saw blue in them some where!!"

"Dude, that is awesome!!"

"That's disgusting!!" Blitz said, scrunching his face. "And Jack, just spit it out, all ready!!"

"You want a flat-out honest answer? Here it is," Jack said, reaching into his jacket.

**_"HOLY SHIT, HE'S GOT A GUN!!! EVERYONE DUCK, COVER AND HIDE!!!"_** Blitz shouted. _**"WOMEN AND CHILDREN FIRST, WOMEN AND CHILDREN FIRST!!!"**_

"I was sent this letter," Jack continued, taking out a torn envelope from his jacket.

Blitz let go of his heart, letting out a rough sigh.

"Damn it, for a second there, I thought you we're going completely wacko."

**Yusei: "Crying In The Dark."**

"Okay," Hikaru began, sitting down next to Blitz, whom now held a wet cloth over his face from Jack's scare. "So, this letter you got... it's from Yusei?"

"Yes, it is."

"How long ago did you get it?" Hikaru asked.

"A week ago."

"That matches when Genji-san came home with the other letter," Rally said.

"What did it say?" Hikaru asked.

"To get to the point, he told me to look after you."

Jack's eyes turned into glaring when he heard Rally giggling.

"And just what the hell is so damned funny?"

"Nothing, nothing..." Rally said, biting his lips, unable to keep a straight face.

"Rally, do you really think you can outsmart his geni-" Blitz covered his face with the cloth again as he too began to laugh. _**"Oh, dear Kami!! I just can't say it when it's so ridiculous!! Ha, ha, ha, oh Kami, I can't breathe, I can't breathe!!"**_

"Blitz..." Hikaru said.

**_"Blitz was right!!"_** Rally suddenly blurted out.

"Right about what?" Jack asked, eyes narrowing dangerously.

"Rally, you should probably shut your fucking mouth now-"

"No, I'd like to hear what you said." Jack said.

"This is gonna be trouble," Lua said.

* * *

"Karu, Kari!! You're not gonna believe what-"

_**"- STILL THINK I'M WHIPPED, NOW?!?!"**_

_**"MERCY, MERCY, MERCY!!! FOR THE LOVE OF KAMI, MERCY!!!"**_

"Uh..." Genji sweat-dropped.

Currently, Blitz was pinned on his stomach on the floor and Jack sat atop of him, one of his arm's wrapped around Blitz's neck, pulling up and tightening his grip, strangling the younger boy.

"Gee, I don't know what's more shocking." Genji began calmly. "The fact that Blitz is having his ass whooped, or the fact that the guy who _**KIDNAPPED MY BABY SISTER IS HERE!!!**_"

With that said and done, Genji knocked Jack off of Blitz, freeing the bluenette and pinning the blonde beneath him on the floor, one of his hands pressed down on Jack's neck, the other grabbing his blonde hair.

**_"WHAT DO YOU WANT, ATLAS?!?!"_** Genji shouted, kneeing the blonde in the crotch. A sound similar to a squeak escaped Jack, his eyes crossing for a moment. _**"WHAT, ARE YOU HERE FOR HIKARU, TOO?!?! HOW ABOUT WE FIGHT FOR HER, PRETTY BOY?!?!"**_

"Setsuna, stop that!! He's harmless!!" Hikaru said, attempting to pull her brother off of the blonde.

_**"HARMLESS?!?! HE SHOT TENPEI IN THE SHOULDER AND RAN OFF WITH OUR BABY SISTER ALL IN THE SAME NIGHT, LET ALONE SAME FEW MINUTES!!!"**_ Genji shouted, now using both of his hands to press down on Jack's throat, causing the blonde to soon choke, gasping for oxygen.

"Setsuna, get off of him!!" Hikaru said.

_**"ONLY IF HE'S COLD AND DEAD!!!"**_

"Onii-sama, stop it, stop it!!" Hikari said, tugging at her brother's arms. "He comes in peace!!"

_**"HE'LL REST IN PEACE BEFORE I LET HIM GO!!!"**_

_**"LET HIM GOOOOOOOOOO!!!"**_ the two girls shouted.

Wincing, Genji looked over at Hikaru. Wrinkles of anger were on Hikaru's forehead, blue eyes shooting a glare of fire. Daring to look at Hikari, he saw her lips stuck out in an angered pout, just as many wrinkles taking up her forehead as Hikaru's. Praying it wasn't their "monthly visit" talking, he let Jack go and stood back up.

"Jesus fucking Christ, you're a fucking psychopath!!" Jack exclaimed, coughing and choking as he rubbed his neck. "How many of you people are just begging to be thrown into the detention center, anyways?!"

"Get used to it, punk. I've got my eyes on you..." Genji glared at the blonde.

"Jack, daijobu?" Hikari asked.

"I'm fine, I'm fine..."

"Sorry 'bout Setsuna-chan," Hikaru said. "He loses his temper faster than a rhino."

"Karu, for the last time, it's _'Genji'!! G-en-ji!!_" Genji said. "Do I have to spell it out for you?!"

"Jack-chan's here for a visit!!" Rally said.

"Sure, take a casual visit to the family whose sister you abducted!!" Genji exclaimed, standing up and shoving Hikari behind his back. "There's nothing twisted about that, that's for sure!! Here, you want a head start?" he asked, stepping away from Hikari. "Go on - oh, too slow!!" he said as he stood in front of her again. "You play against me all you want, but you will never walk away with her, or Hikaru!! Not while I'm here..."

"Genj, cut it out!!" Hikaru said, taking Hikari's head and walking away from him. "Kari and I have dinner to finish preparing; I'm sure the others won't mind telling you why Jack's here. And try not to shout anymore, Tenpei's mother and grandmother will be home soon. Try to not give Teresa a heart attack, okay?"

"Fine, what ever." Genji said, sitting down beside Tenpei. A moment later, as the two sisters headed back into the kitchen, Akira reached over towards Genji, smiling and babbling. Taking the hint, Genji picked up the child from Tenpei's arms, letting him rest back into his. "Hey there, little buddy. Ya miss your Uncle Genji?"

It was clear that Genji didn't want to hear why Jack was there.

* * *

"So, tell me Genj," Hikaru began, stirring the noodles. "Why'd you guys close the shop early today?"

"Well, I don't mean to brag, but..." Genji dropped a shopping bag onto the table. "Guess how much yen I got for selling that dragon sculpture?"

"Uh... 45,980?" Hikaru asked.

"Damn, are you way off, Imoto," Genji responded.

"91,960 yen?" Hikari asked.

"Not even close!!" Genji responded. "Okay, so this guy walks in, asks how much the sculpture is, I say he should look at the price tag, and he says it is definitely not worth 45,980 yen. So then I ask him what price he'd like it to slice to, cuz you know I like to haggle,"

"Let me guess, all you got for it was 91.96 yen?" Hikaru asked.

"He offered me 459,800,000 yen for it, right on the spot!!"

Hikaru dropped the wooden spoon onto the counter.

**_"459,800,000 YEN?!?!"_** Hikaru screeched.

"And that's not what he did end up paying for it," Genji said with a smile. "The end total he paid was 919,600,000 yen!!"

**_"919,600,000 YEN?!?!"_** Hikaru screeched, pulling on her hair. _**"HONEST TO KAMI?!?!"**_

"You bet your ass I sold it for that much!!" Genji responded. "So then I paid my workers an early paycheck, and I went merchanting, got you girls a little something." he said, reaching into the shopping bag. "Karu, I ain't never seen so much money in my life!! I actually feel like that here in Neo-Domino we have a future!!"

"Well don't go blowin' too much cash," Hikaru said. "We need to be able to support ourselves without the Hayanos helpin' us out too much. You never know what could happen, Genj..."

"Karu, we've been working our asses off. We need a little treat. So... look what I got you."

Setting down the wooden spoon on the spoon rest, Hikaru turned around. Immediately, her eyes widened.

**_"You got us a puppy!!"_** Hikaru squealed, nearly snatching the small, slumbering dog from her brother's hands. **_"Aw, look at him!! He's so cute!!"_**

"A puppy?" Hikari asked, turning around as well.

"Aw, Lil' Light, isn't he cute?" Hikaru cooed, holding the little dog like a baby. "Have you ever seen anything so precious?"

"He is cute," Hikari said, smiling.

"And,"

This time, it was Hikari's turn to squeal, holding a sleepy kitten in her arms similar to Hikaru and the puppy.

"I had a feeling you girls would like them," Genji said with a smile.

"Can we name them, please, Genji? Oh, _please please please please, pretty pretty please?!_" Hikaru asked, bouncing on her feet.

"Of course you can," Genji responded. "They are yours."

Smiling ever the more, Hikaru lifted up the puppy. He was small and white with a gray splotch over his right eye and a black one over his left eye. The tip of his tail looked like it had been dipped in black ink, as did each of his paws. Spots of gray scattered across his back and belly.

"I think I'll call him... Little Dipper!!" Hikaru said with a smile.

Hikari looked at her fluffy little kitten in thought. She saw that the little girl was white and gray with light gray on her paws. What she noticed was unique about her was that half of her nose was pink and the other half was blackish-red.

"I think... I'll call her Hime Megami Mao," Hikari said with a smile. "'Mao-Mao' for short." she added.

"- Hikaru!! The water's boiling over!!" Genji exclaimed.

"Oh gosh!!" Hikaru exclaimed, turning back to the stove after she placed Little Dipper down, turning down the burner and stirring the noodles. "Oh, thank Kami..." she sighed.

"Well, on a brighter note," Genji began, picking up his shopping bag. "I got all of the supplies we'll need for them at the store; I'll help you girls set things up after dinner."

"Little Dipper," Hikaru began, smiling down at the puppy. "Why don't you go introduce yourself to the others in the other room? We can play after dinner!"

"You too, Mao-Mao," Hikari said, placing down the little kitten. Mao-Mao mewed cutely, striding beside Little Dipper as they headed into the living room. It was like they could actually understand their words.

"I'll go keep an eye on them," Genji said, heading back into the living room.

* * *

"What's he doing here, anyways?" Genji asked.

No one seemed to notice, but as Hikari ate, she stared back into the living room to Jack, who sat in there alone, not having to have bothered to get up and go have dinner with the others.

"Naturally, now it occurs to you to ask." Hikaru said, twirling her ramen noodles around her chopsticks.

"I want to know; why is Assless Jack here?"

Hikaru sighed at "Assless".

"On the same day we did, he also received a letter from Yusei." Hikaru responded. "He said that Yusei told him to look after us for him."

_"Is Yusei nucking futs?!"_ Genji asked in a hushed whisper. _"This guy kidnapped Hikari, stole his D-Wheel, and treated him like dirt!! Why ask him of all people?! _**Of all people?!**_"_

"Yusei-Nii-san can trust Jack the most," Rally said.

"He can actually trust that monster?" Genji asked before slurping up his ramen.

"Mm-hm, mm-hm," Rally responded, nodding and smiling. "Even when they fought before, they all ways had a bond of trust between them. Yusei said it really got stronger when they were in Team Satisfaction."

"Team Satisfaction?" Hikaru asked.

"Yeah, yeah!! That was the name of their gang!!" Rally said.

**_"Gang?!"_** Genji asked.

"They protected the Satellite," Rally said. A moment later, his smile faded. "But then Kiryu-kun..."

"Kiryu?" Hikaru asked.

"Hai... Kyosuke Kiryu, he was the leader of Team Satisfaction." Rally responded. "Crow was in the gang, too. It was just the four of them."

"What happened to Kiryu?" Hikaru asked.

"Kiryu-kun... he became mad with the power they had... so Yusei, Jack and Crow left." Rally said. "When Kiryu-kun committed a minor offense - something that he wouldn't even have had to have gone to the detention center for - he killed the officer who was to arrest him. Yusei tried to take the blame for him, but Kiryu-kun was arrested anyways... and then the next day, we found out he was dead."

"That's so sad..." Hikaru said.

"Security said he committed suicide," Blitz said, twirling his ramen in its broth. "But that's all a ton of bull shit, if you ask us. If there's one thing Kiryu never would do, that's take his own life. Either they beat him to death, he'd been sick for the longest time in secret, or he had a heart attack or something..."

"Kiryu-kun used to be so nice..." Rally said with a smile. "If only absolute power didn't corrupt him absolutely..."

* * *

Jack was awakened by the sound of footsteps. Sitting up straight, he stretched back before he rubbed his eyes with one hand. A moment later, a lamp clicked on.

"Gomen nasai," came Hikari's familiar voice. "Did I wake you up?"

Blinking, confused, Jack shook his head.

"Iie, it's fine..." he said.

Hikari glanced down at her feet before looking in front of Jack.

"I know it's late, but I brought you dinner." Hikari said. In front of Jack she had placed a TV table with heated ramen noodles in chicken broth, rice, and fried shrimp. Jack had been certain there hadn't been fried shrimp before for the others, so he could only guess that there had been other foods devoured completely during dinner.

"Arigatou..." Jack said without struggle to use politeness.

"... Jack?"

"Hai?"

Staring at him for a moment, Hikari then climbed onto the couch, sitting beside him. She turned her head, looking up at him.

"In the Satellite... with Team Satisfaction..." she began. "What was it like?"

What was odd for the blonde was that he found himself smiling.

"Well... how do I explain this?..." he asked to himself, staring up at the dark ceiling. "You know the feeling you get inside of you when the wind blows around you?" Hikari nodded, so he continued on. "Well, it's kind of like that. You just feel so... different from your real self, and you can express yourself any way you want.... We'd roam where ever we wanted because every other gang practically feared us. But still... what I myself liked the most was all of the time I got to spend with Yusei and Crow and Kiryu... it was so freeing. I kind of felt like I could fly..."

Hikari could only sit and listen to what the usually distant boy was saying. A smile was working its way onto her face, though. She pulled her legs up, hugging her knees.

"Jack felt love in Team Satisfaction," Hikari said.

"Huh?" Jack's amethyst eyes looked at her with a strange softness.

"The feeling you described... it made me feel tingly inside." Hikari began. "That's how love makes you feel... like you could soar through the air, like you could fly. It isn't a feeling you can feel often, either. Only when the time is right does it come to you."

"Is that right?"

Hikari nodded, the hood from her pajamas slipping down over her eyes. She pushed it up, the plush cat ears on the hood sticking up, casting their shadow combined with hers.

"The night that Ten-kun told me how he felt..." Hikari continued. "I felt that feeling. I'd know it anywhere... I felt it from Hikaru, from Genji, from Yusei..." With shining eyes, she looked over at Jack again. "What happened to your family?"

Blinking, Jack turned his head away.

"They're gone... for a while, I had my mama, but... she left me at the orphanage when she was sick and couldn't take care of me anymore..." Hikari swore, despite the dim light, that she could see tears forming in Jack's eyes. "Mama loved me with all of her heart, and I loved Mama just as much... and when she left me, I thought it was all a lie; that she never loved me..." Jack turned his head away further. "A few months later, I received news that she'd died.... For a while, I'd just keep to myself at the orphanage... no one bothered me, and I'd stopped talking. A month later, Yusei came to me, and asked me if I wanted to play with him... so I did. That night, we decided to sleep together... it took no time at all for us to become best friends. The next day, thanks to him, I'd started smiling again, and then after a few months, I started talking again. Martha was impressed with him... but still, the pain of Mama would return, but he'd all ways be there to be a shoulder to cry on."

Hikari thought she would burst into tears at any moment. Her eyes stung with hot tears.

"... What changed?..." was all Hikari could manage to say.

"After we lost Kiryu, I just kind of... drifted and spaced myself away..." Jack said. "I mean, Crow left one day without any warning. Over night, he'd packed his things, and after breakfast he said goodbye and left..."

"He just left?"

"... I felt so angry, so betrayed... so upset... I just wanted to hit something over and over, over and over, over and over... I wanted to kill something, and kill something bad..." Jack said, and by now it was impossible for him to not cry. Even for the mighty Atlas Jack. "First Mama left me, then Kiryu left us, then Crow..." He brought a hand up to his face. "I got so angry that day, that I... I struck Rally... and then I just ended up feeling worse when he said it was okay; he forgave me so easily..."

"... Yusei-Nii-san never betrayed you, did he?" Hikari asked.

"He was always there..." Jack responded. "It's like even though I turned into something different from the cowardly seven year-old he'd met at the orphanage, he could still muster up all he could to be my friend.... Thinking about it now, he's just like how my mama was..."

"Like your mama?"

"I don't know, really, it's the only way I can explain it." Jack sighed, staring down into his lap. "Even when I changed into something I wasn't, he came for me... he came here to this city, to Neo-Domino..." He paused. "Mama was always there... she always told me she loved me. Yusei was always there... he'd always tell me I was his best friend..."

"Mothers can't be replaced..."

Jack sighed at Hikari's words, but he blinked when she pulled him into a hug, letting him rest his head on her small shoulder. It was like being held by a toddler.

"But family, it doesn't have to be with blood..." Hikari said. "This house... its made up of a big family, and there's no blood between some of us, but it doesn't stop us at all... we're all brothers and sisters, and mothers and fathers..." Hikari smiled. "If Nii-san can open his heart to someone, then we should all give you the chance you deserve. Jack can be our brother... we can love you..."

Jack remained silent, but felt his heart wrench a little when he felt one of Hikari's now dropping tears fall onto his shoulder, seeping through the fabric of his jacket and his shirt. Slowly, he managed to bring his arms up, and soon his hands rested on her back.

"I almost forgot this feeling..." he managed to say in a whisper.

* * *

"Nani? Hikari?"

"Ohayou, Sissy-cha." Hikari said quietly, smiling. Akira laid in her arms, receiving his breakfast bottle. "Did you sleep well?"

"Hai..." Hikaru trailed off, walking into the living room further. "Uh... Kari?"

"Hai?"

"... Has Jack been..." Hikaru began. "Crying?"

"Mm-hm," Hikari said with a nod.

Jack was still on the couch. His head laid on one of its pillows, and Hikari had fetched a blanket for him from the closet. Trails of tears were still fresh on his face.

"I couldn't sleep last night," Hikari began. "Knowing that Jack hadn't eatten, that he was left out here all alone. So I came out, reheated some food from dinner, and we had a talk."

"Talk?" Hikaru asked, sitting on the floor, leaning against the couch beside her sister's feet.

"Hai," Hikari said, giving her sister a smile. "He told me about Team Satisfaction, about Crow-kun and Kiryu-kun, how he and Yusei-Nii-san met..." Hikari took the bottle away from Akira and laid him on her shoulder. "He even told me about his mama."

"His mama?"

"Hai. Atlas Kiku was her name," Hikari said, bringing Akira back down into her arms after he burped. She gave him the bottle again. "He showed me her picture; he looks just like her."

"Jesus, this does not sound like the Atlas Jack that Blitz was ranting to me about last night..." Hikaru said.

"He surprised me, too..." Hikari said.

Hikaru remained silent for a while, staring at the unusually at peace Atlas Jack.

"Either I'm being too damn sensitive right now, or Jack's reminding me of Yusei..." Hikaru said, pulling her knees to her chest.

"Huh? How so, Sissy-cha?" Hikari asked.

"Earlier on the morning you came back, Yusei and I were having a talk," Hikaru began. "Before he spilled his guts on a bunch of stuff, he completely lost it and cried. He clung to me, and he cried so hard that... I thought he'd shatter..."

"Nii-sama..."

"He told me a lot of things," Hikaru said. "One thing I dare not repeat aloud; I doubt you'd want me to..."

"I know what you mean, Sissy-cha..." Hikari responded in a whisper.

"Look, Kari," Hikaru began, looking up at her sister. "It's okay. Things happen sometimes..."

Hikari looked down at Akira with a sort of remorse in her eyes. He greedily drank down the warm milk from his bottle, making happy baby noises.

"... Sissy-cha?..."

"Yeah, Lil' Light?"

"... Where do you think Akira came from?..."

* * *

_**To Be Continued...**_

Gash: ~_____~ Whew... can't believe I wrote that all in one day!!

Aki: I actually like it...

Zeon: As do I.

Aki: You always do, kiss ass...

Gash: Wells, even with the homework I had to do, I am updating this weekend!!... Extended weekend, at least... ^_____^''' I definitely wouldn't have this chapter up if it weren't for Memorial Day... but, at least school will be over for us New Englanders soon!! I've got about three weeks left... I don't know, I'm not a doctor.

Aki: What the hell does a doctor have to do with this?!

Gash: _**CUZ THERE AIN'T NO CURE FOR THE SUMMA TIME BLUUUUUUUUES!!!**_ (Wearing sunglasses, headbanging and air-guitaring with hair down) _**TAKE IT AWAY, ZE-ZO!!!**_

Zeon: (Suddenly sitting behind a drum kit) Gladly. (Epically drum solos)

Gash: _**NOW REVIEW, PLEASE!!!**_

Zeon: (Still drumming) _**IF YOU DON'T REVIEW, I'LL SHOVE MY BASS DRUM UP YOUR -**_ (Can no longer be heard)


	3. Insomnia: Screaming

"Yusei, calm down!!" Crow exclaimed, trying to pull the younger boy away from the wall.

_**"DAMN IT, DAMN IT, DAMN IT!!!"**_ Yusei kept on shouting at the top of his lungs, striking the wall over and over and over. He then screeched a screech similar to that of a dragon's.

"Yusei, calm down, calm down!!" Crow repeated, almost being over-powered by the enraged boy.

Yusei let out one long screech before he completely collapsed, and he was lucky Crow was there to catch him.

"Jesus, Yusei," Crow said, wrapping Yusei's arm around his neck. "How can the kids sleep through that?" he asked, walking them out of the room.

"Aw, Yusei," Martha almost cooed when she saw his face. "What's the matter?"

Yusei couldn't answer. He was too focused on breathing, on making sure he would stay awake.

"Yuse, c'mon, I'll bring you back to yours and Tenshi's room," Crow began, picking up the raven-haired boy bridal-style. "And I'll bring you some eats, and I'm gonna make you eat, ya hear?"

Yusei could only breathe, leaning his head on the orange-haired boy's shoulder, his mark nearly burning his arm to insanity.

Martha could only stare after the two boys, sighing as she did.

**Yusei: "Insomnia: Screaming."**

"Nii-san, at least try and sleep..."

Yusei tossed and turned, completely keeping the younger boy awake. Finally giving up, he kicked the blankets off.

_"- Heeeeey!! I'm really cold!!"_ Tenshi whined, pulling the blankets back up around him as Yusei stood up, pacing around frantically. "Yusei, can't you stay still for two minutes?"

Yusei shook, huddling himself in the corner. He chewed on the tip of the thumb of his glove, not bothering to spit his tongue when the taste of gasoline, oil and dirt greeted his tastebuds like the stink of a skunk to your nostrils; it was not pleasant at all. As he chewed on his glove, he laid his head against the wall.

"Onii-sama?" Tenshi asked, risking becoming cold and crawling out from the warm confines of the bed.

_"I can't do this anymore..."_ Yusei said, staring into the corner, eyes completely glazed over with vacancy, dark circles around his eyes. _"I hear sirens... can you hear them?..."_

"Nani? Sirens?" Tenshi asked. "What are you talking about? I don't hear any sirens..."

_"Can you feel the fire?... Hear the screams?..."_ Yusei asked almost insanely. _"I can smell the burning, the blood all around..."_

Tenshi shook out of complete fear now, not from the cold. Yusei was, quite frankly, scaring the shit out of him!

"Yusei, cut it out... you're gonna make me throw up!!" Tenshi whined.

When the lights flickered on, Yusei screamed at the top of his lungs.

**_"Jesus, Yusei!!"_** Crow was somehow heard over the screech. _**"What's gotten into yah?"**_ he asked, placing down the tray of food on the old yet sturdy desk against the wall.

**_"Turn the light off!!"_** Tenshi exclaimed, holding his hands over his ears. _**"Turn it off!!"**_

Crow flicked the light back off, and immediately Yusei returned to chewing his glove, staring at the corner of the wall; where two of the walls surrounding him met and seamed together. Deciding to experiment, Crow turned the lights back on, making Yusei repeat his screech.

**_"Crow-kun, are you nuts?!"_** Tenshi shouted, his ears covered again.

Crow turned off the light again, and Yusei immediately calmed down.

"Damn it... he's developin' photophobia," Crow said. "Just when I thought I could help him get back to his old self..."

_"Kiryu had a life..."_ Yusei muttered. _"Now what became of it?... The sirens won't stop..."_

"Yusei, cut it out. You're creepin' me out," Crow said as he approached the boy.

At first glance, when Yusei met up with him again, Crow wouldn't have recognized him right away if he hadn't looked almost the same. When he saw the boy again, he looked almost ghostly, almost dead. His hair was limp and dulled, his face has sunken in, his skin was paler than Tenshi's clothes, and the circles around his eyes were so dark they almost looked like tattoos. Yusei had become so skinny his clothes were even baggy on him. His legs were like sticks, his arms like twigs... it was almost hard to believe that this fragile thing had been in the strongest gang the Satellite ever did see, and it looked like he could break at any minute. He was like a ticking clock...

"Yusei, look what I've got," Crow cooed, pulling out a chocolate bar from his armband. He dangled it in front of Yusei's face, letting its scent drift through the wrapper and to his nose. "Ya want?" Yusei remained silent. "You gotta eat your supper, first, like a good lil' boy, ya hear?"

Yusei brought up his free hand, beginning to scratch at the wall. Slowly, he began to chip away small bits of wood, creating a small indent in the wall.

"Aw, c'mon, Yuse," Crow cooed some more, shoving the chocolate bar against Yusei's nose.

Yusei brought his hands down, letting his head fall forward, resting his head in the corner. And what was more, was he ducked below the candy bar.

"Baby Jesus," Crow gasped, hiding the chocolate bar back in his armband. "Yusei never turned down chocolate before!!"

_"Why can't I just sleep?"_ Tenshi whined tiredly, pouting.

"Tens, you get some shut-eye," Crow said, wrapping his arms around Yusei, lifting him up into his arms again. "I'll take care 'a Yuse." he said, walking back over to the desk and sitting down with the thin boy in his lap, almost like a baby. "You let the sandmen put ya ta sleep," Crow said, picking up a spoon from the bowl of soup.

"Try not to think of sand in bed, try not to think of sand in bed..." Tenshi repeated, curling under the blankets.

"C'mon, Yusei. Open up for the choo-choo train," Crow said like Yusei was a baby learning to eat. "Choo-choo, choo-choo!!"

Managing to pry Yusei's mouth open, Crow held Yusei's head back until he heard the sound of little gulps. Certain Yusei had swallowed the spoonful, he picked up the spoon again, skillfully hiding a small white pill in the yellow liquid. Yusei swallowed again, not even have noticed it among the noodles. Crow had to give him three more pills, which were perfectly concealed in the soup. Yusei might be able to sleep after all.

If only Yusei could know how much it broke Crow to see him like this...

* * *

"Ohayou, Tens,"

Tenshi blinked.

"Sleep well?" Crow asked, stroking the top of Yusei's hair as the boy sniffled and hiccuped as he cried softly.

"... Am I seeing things?..." Tenshi began. "Or is he finally-"

"Asleep," Crow responded with a smile, holding Yusei close to him in his arms. "It wasn't easy, let me tell you that."

"Crow-kun, how did you?..."

Crow took a white bottle out of his pocket.

"Sedatives." Crow responded. "I tried to use sleeping pills - and strong ones, might I add - but those worked diddly squat. An hour after the pills were supposed to work, I grabbed a syringe and gave 'im this strong stuff." Crow said proudly. "It's what they use to put ya ta sleep for surgery."

"Where the hell did you get-"

"Shush," Crow said, looking around before he looked back at Tenshi. "Martha doesn't know I resorted to using a sedative injection. I got them from a guy..." He pocketed the bottle, making sure it was concealed. "This doesn't leave you and me, okay Tens?"

Unsure, Tenshi nodded.

"And don't play the 'I got them from a guy' on me," Tenshi said slyly. "I know you steal from Security. If you steal from them, why not steal from doctors?"

"The dude was a complete jerk-off," Crow retorted.

"I shouldn't have expected less from you, Crow-kun..." Tenshi said. "How long has he been asleep?"

"Barely three hours..." Crow responded. "He's probably going to wake up soon, though... I gave him a small dosage. I didn't want him to overdose with the sleeping pills he already had..."

"Well, some sleep is better than none," Tenshi said. "Onii-sama is really..."

"Really what?" Crow asked.

"... You know, I don't know how to explain it..." Tenshi responded.

"That's to be expected," Crow said with a grin. "You are still just a naive little boy."

_**"Am not!"**_

Tenshi winced when Yusei gave a sound like a whimper, wiggling around a bit before he settled back down. With a hiccup, his hands clutched Crow's shirt.

"Baby Jesus, I thought he was gonna wake up for a minute..." Crow said. "I'd better put him to bed." he said, carefully standing up and heading over to the bed the two Fudos shared. He laid Yusei down, covering him with the blankets Tenshi had discarded. "How long has it been since he last slept?"

"I remember it started a week after he found me," Tenshi responded. "When ever he was asleep, he'd always cry, like he is now."

"Fizzle sticks, our boy's goin' through a breakdown," Crow said. "Did he eat at all during that?"

"Every few days," Tenshi responded. "But then when he came back one day, he was in a delirium and wouldn't stop muttering things about Kiryu. I'd have gone nuts and bent over backwards if you hadn't found us the next day..."

"Here's how life roles, kid," Crow began. "Once a gang member, always a gang brother."

"Crow-kun, what should we do until he wakes up?" Tenshi asked.

"You stay here, I'll go see if I can scrounge up some money for breakfast. I ain't gonna have Martha let us eat for free; the children here need food more than we do."

"Okay. I'll stay here with Nii-san," Tenshi said, sitting on the edge of the bed near the footboard. "If you don't have enough money, tell me, so I can help you out Crow-kun, okay?"

"Thanks Lil' Ten, but don't you worry." Crow said. "'Sides, a growin' boy like ya'll need the nourishment."

Before the younger boy could respond, Crow had already left.

* * *

_**"They came!! They finally came!!"**_

Genji laughed as he practically slammed down a box onto the kitchen table.

_**"They came they came they came!!"**_ he said like a giddy little child who'd just gotten a sweet treat as he tore the tape that kept the box flaps shut.

"'S gotten into you?" Hikaru asked.

"I'm an official business owner now, Karu!! Check it out!! Ta-da!!"

"Paper?" Hikari asked.

Genji sweat-dropped.

"Sorta, Kari," Genji responded, holding out the card to her. "It's a business card."

"What's a business card?" Hikari asked.

"Business cards are little sturdy slips of paper with information from a business on them," Tenpei said. "Tons of businesses use them, like Kaiba Corp. and people who cut grass."

"They can fit it all on here?" Hikari asked, looking at Genji's business card.

"Read it, Kari!! I wanna hear the words fly off of someone else's lips!! Ooo, it makes me feel so excited!!" Genji practically squealed.

"_**'Genji's Junk And Gem Shop'**_, _**'Located on U2 Boulevard'**_, _**'Owned by Setsuna Genji'**_..." Hikari read.

"Haha, perfecto!!" Genji exclaimed, punching his fist up into the air. "I'm gonna start slipping them to every customer I get!!"

"The city is confusing," Hikari said, placing the business card down.

"Now, Genji, boxes off the table," Hikaru said. "It's lunch time, so lets monja!!"

"Oh, Karu, dear sister," Genji began in a fakely sweet tone. "You do know how I feel about _**it**_ eating at the table..."

"Setsuna-chan, zip the lips or we'll throw you outside for lunch!!" Hikaru warned. "Jack is our guest, we all will treat him with respect!! Got that?"

"Don't expect me to hear him," Genji said, turning his head away from Jack, whom sat on the other side of the table.

"Sorry we're late!" Blitz said as he aided Nerve into the kitchen. "Someone wouldn't wake up from his nap..."

"Afternoon, Jack," Nerve said as he and Blitz sat down. "I'd heard you'd be visiting for a while. Nice to see you since you ran off!!"

"You sick or something?" Jack asked, blinking.

"I had heart surgery last month," Nerve responded. "Just taking me a while to recover my strength."

"_Mmmmm!!_ Karu, Kari!! The curry tastes great today!!" Genji said, keeping his face down in his bowl. "Jesus, what's your secret?"

"I actually wasn't helping with lunch today," Hikaru said. "I had to go on a diaper and formula run."

"Kari, you made it all on your own?" Genji asked, picking his head up.

"Nuh-uh," Hikari responded, shaking her head. "Jack helped me."

Genji's jaw dropped open, the mouthful he had been about to swallow dripping back down into his bowl.

"Please excuse me whilst I go vomit," Genji said, pushing himself up from his seat.

"Fudo Setsuna Genji, you sit your ass back down right now!!" Hikaru shouted, making the elder wince. "Remember, there are starving children in the Satellite who would love very much to be eating what you just toss aside!! We lived that life before, and now because we're here in the city, I will not allow you to turn into a snobbish, stuck-up jerk-off!! So suck it the hell up, sit down, eat your lunch, and be happy-go-fucking-lucky!!"

Two seconds later, Genji had his face in his bowl again.

"So Jack, you actually helped cook?" Blitz asked.

"I was bored..." Jack responded.

"Jack used to cook all of the time back in Satellite!!" Rally said.

"He did?" Hikaru asked.

"He sure did!!" Rally responded. "He learned from Martha, then he taught Takaku-chama, and he tried to teach me, but I ended up being an unstar pupil..."

_"I'm surprised you haven't dropped dead yet,"_ Genji mumbled.

"Setsuna!! I heard that!!" Hikaru snapped.

"Jesus, what's wrong with you today?" Genji asked.

"Three letters," Hikaru responded simply.

Genji then turned his head away again, not needing any further information.

"Oh, wait, now I just remembered!!" Hikaru said. "Genj, lets tell her!!"

"Oh, right!! I almost forgot!!" Genji said. "Hikari, I was able to enroll you in a school."

"School?" Hikari asked, blinking. "But I have a career rolling on right now,"

"So does Luka-chan," Genji responded. "But she told me that her and Lua are being enrolled in a private school. I was able to get you into the same school."

"But, what about Akira?" Hikari asked. "I know, I'll be learning what I should be, but I don't want to leave him all alone without his momma!!"

"They have a nursery there for young children," Genji responded. "It's a preschool for the Nurturing Education students to teach in. You've been signed up for that class, and can go take care of Akira when ever you need to, being his mother."

"Okaa-sama must have enrolled me, too..." Tenpei said. "It's a little predictable of her..."

"What school is this, Nii-san?" Hikari asked.

"Ariel Academy," Genji responded. "Normally children attend it starting from preschool, but later enrollments aren't as uncommon as you'd think. You should be able to go in two weeks, saying as we'll have to go to the school to meet your headmaster, teachers, and get you your uniforms."

"Well, school will be better with Ten-kun and my little Akira!!" Hikari said. "Nii-sama, arigatou na no da!!"

"Thank you, thank you. Yes, yes, I know, I'm brilliant." Genji said, bowing in his seat.

"And I'm the stuck-up snob?" Jack asked.

* * *

Crow blinked as he saw Yusei miraculously drink down a mug of coffee while shaking, but not spilling a single drop.

"I think Yusei's had enough now, okay?" Crow said, pulling away the coffee pot.

_**"JAVAJAVAJAVA!!!"**_ Yusei screeched almost childishly, reaching for the coffee pot. _"Javajavajavajavajavajavajavajava..."_ he kept on repeating in mantra.

_Thank Kami for decaf..._ Crow said as he poured another cup of the coffee into Yusei's mug.

_"Javajavajava..."_ Yusei purred, slowly drinking this time, savoring the taste.

"Martha, Yusei's drinking black coffee!!" Crow called.

"Oh my," Martha said as she walked in, watching Yusei twitch as he drank. "He's completely deteriorating..."

"Onii-sama..." Tenshi said.

"I've never seen him like this before, Martha," Crow began. "What is going on with him?"

"One can only guess," Martha said, sitting down at the table.

_"Jaaaaaaaaaaaaaaavajavajavajavajavajavajavaaaaaaaaaaaaaa..."_ Yusei said, holding his mug out in front of him.

"Decaf?" Martha asked Crow.

"Hai,"

Martha looked back at Yusei with an almost sad look in her eyes.

_"Oh Yuuuuuuseeeeeeeeeiiii,"_ Crow cooed, holding out the chocolate bar again. "Look what Crow's got,"

Yusei merely sucked on the rim of his mug, as if asking for yet again more coffee - decaffeinated coffee, thank Kami.

_"Yyyyy-uuuuuuu-ssssssss-eeeeeeee-iiiiiiiiiii..."_ Crow sung, unraveling the foil candy wrapper. "You want, yes?" he asked, holding it in front of Yusei's face. "It's got lots'a sugah in it," he said sweetly. "Maybe a li'le... pep..."

Crow felt his heart wrench when he saw more tears beginning to drop out of Yusei's eyes. Sighing, he wrapped the chocolate bar back up and stuck it back into his armband. A moment later, his head snapped back up.

"Whoa, Nellie!" Crow began. "Yuse, I'm takin' ya to see a psychic. I made an appointment for yeh! Just like me, I must'a forgot!"

For some reason, that had caught Yusei's attention, and his head picked up.

"C'mon, get yer helmet!" Crow said, picking up his from the hutch. Yusei followed after him, picking up his. "C'mon, Tens."

Tenshi tagged along nearly by the other boys' heels.

"You boys be careful!!" Martha called after them. "And remember to watch out for Dark Signers!!"

_**"No worries, Marth!!"**_ Crow called back.

* * *

_**To Be Continued...**_

Gash: (Shudders) Man, Yusei was kinda creeping me out, too... and I friggin' **_wrote_** this!!

Aki: You're telling me?

Zeon: She is, and she is also telling me. And she's telling her reviews, too.

Gash: Yeah, the main focus in this chappy was how Yusei is doing. Bear with me on the parts with him, please, cuz I have yet to actually see stuff with Dark Signers...

Aki: ... So let me get this straight. You're writing about something you know next to nothing about?

Gash: Cut me some slack... I've got three weeks left of school, and that means final exams will start soon!!

Aki: And yet you are able to keep up with watching Death Note...

Gash: T.T On Sundays with Jesse!!

Zeon: I believe you need to tell them to review, now...

Gash: Oh, right!! Thanks for reminding me Zeon. Here, have a cookie!! (Hands him a cookie)

Zeon: Many thanks.

Gash: So... _**REVIEW FOR ME PLEASE!!!**_ ^-^

Zeon: And if you don't review, I'll see to it that you _**never**_ have a cookie **_again..._**


	4. Hiraku, Hotaru And Hoshiko

"Tenpei,"

"Oh? Welcome home, Okaa-san!!" Tenpei said, bowing respectfully. "How was work today?"

"As good as work can get," Sayu said, setting down her bag. "How was your day?"

"Wonderful," Tenpei responded. "Genji is still spatting about Jack, though..."

"He'll warm up to him soon enough," Sayu said as she slipped off her work shoes.

"When is Hana-Baabaa going to be back again?" Tenpei asked.

"She'll be back tomorrow," Sayu responded. "She's just making sure things are all straightened out for the people who are buying her place."

"It'll be great to have her around again," Tenpei said, smiling. "She really likes Akira and Hikari-chan."

"It's hard not to like them," Sayu said.

**Yusei: "Hiraku, Hotaru And Hoshiko."**

**_"Race you into the kitchen, Ten-chan!!"_** Rally exclaimed as he ran from the hallway.

_**"Hey, no fair!! You got a head start!!"**_ Tenpei responded as he sprinted to catch up to the older boy.

_**"All's fair in love and war!!"**_ Rally retorted.

_"Love for you being where?"_ Tenpei teased.

_**"I'm gonna win!!"**_ Rally said, shoving his shoulder into Tenpei's. Tenpei shoved his shoulder back, though, trying not to slip in his socked feet.

_**"No you won't!!"**_

When the two boys stepped foot into the kitchen, they ended up slipping. Rally fell on top of Tenpei.

_**"I won!! I fell first!!"**_ Tenpei said. "... But could you get off of me?!"

"Oh, sorry, Ten-chan!!" Rally said, scurrying up onto his feet, helping the younger boy stand back up. "I didn't squish you or anything, did I?"

"No..." Tenpei said, adjusting his glasses and rubbing his head.

"You two okay?" Hikaru asked.

"Yeah... just rough-housing." Rally responded. "Huh?" He blinked.

"You gotta support his head," Hikari was saying, adjusting Akira in Jack's arms. "If you don't, he could hurt his neck. Don't hold him too low, he could choke if he isn't up the right way."

Tenpei and Rally could only blink in confusion and wonder as they saw Jack act oddly gentle with the silver-haired baby in his arms.

"There we go! Now then," Hikari picked up the bottle from the table. "Here we go." she said, handing the bottle to Jack.

"Man, Genji's going to be pissed!" Rally said as him and Tenpei sat down.

"Setsuna-Nii-san has to accept the fact that Jack is different now," Hikari said as she helped Jack guide the rubber nipple of the bottle into Akira's mouth. "It's just hard for some people to see others' good sides."

"I think Akira-chan likes Jack-chan," Rally said.

"He falls in love with anyone who feeds him," Hikari said as she stepped up onto a step-stool to reach the kitchen counter.

"Ooh, ooh, ooh!! Kari, our cover is on the radio!!" Hikaru said, turning up the knob on the radio. "Man, I still can't believe we're on a record deal with MUP!!"

"_'MUP'_?" Jack questioned.

"That's what Hikaru got us to start calling Moon Unit Productions," Hikari responded as Blitz and Nerve came into the room.

As the singing started, Hikaru sung along.

Hikaru: _**Wasted days, and wasted nights,  
I feel lonely.  
I walk these streets and wonder why,  
I ever listened to them say,  
"You are not the one for me."  
But they were wrong.  
They don't see the things I see... **_

Hikaru and Hikari: _**When everyone turns to go,  
I won't leave you.  
When everything new gets old,  
I won't listen.  
When everyone says,  
I'll be better alone,  
I say, "This heart has a mind of its own..." **_

Hikari: _**When I see you across the room,  
Time stands still.**_

Hikaru; _**Every time I undress you,  
My heart starts to fall.**_

Hikaru and Hikari: _**In my arms, lay with me, a little while...  
Let the world just fade away - you and me... **_

_**When everyone turns to go,  
I won't leave you.  
When everything new gets old,  
I won't listen.  
When everyone says,  
I'll be better alone,  
I say, "This heart has a mind of its own..." **_

Hikari: _**Let the world come crashing down - you can smile,  
Cuz you know that I won't let you down.  
Let me be the only sound, you can hear. **_

Hikaru: _**Fall in my arms and lay with me - a little while...  
Let the world just fade away - you and me... **_

Hikaru and Hikari: _**When everyone turns to go,  
I won't leave you.  
When everything new gets old,  
I won't listen.  
When everyone says,  
I'll be better alone,  
I say, "This heart has a mind of its own..." **_

_**When everyone turns to go,  
I won't leave you.  
When everything new gets old,  
I won't listen.  
When everyone says,  
I'll be better alone,  
I say, "This heart has a mind of its own..." **_

_**"Yaaaaaaaaay!! Encore, encore!!"**_ Rally clapped.

"Why is he giving me a funny look?" Jack asked.

"Huh?" Hikari asked, looking over her shoulder. "Oh, that means he needs to be burped so he can make room in his stomach for the rest of his bottle."

"Jus' lay him on your shoulder and pat his back," Hikaru said. "That should do it for little Akira-chan."

"Use this, in case he spits up." Rally said, placing a soft white cloth onto Jack's left shoulder.

"I heard singing from my bedroom," Sayu said as she walked in. Just as she did, Jack had laid Akira on his shoulder and was gently patting his back.

"He's not completely glass-fragile," Tenpei said. "When you burp him you gotta do it a little harder so he can get it up."

"One of our cover songs was just on the radio," Hikaru said. "We couldn't help ourselves!!"

"I was just grabbing one of my old CDs," Sayu said, walking over to the CD player-radio. "I haven't listened to this in years, and there's a song I'd like to play for you girls. It might be fun to do a cover of,"

_"Ooo, **tunage!!**"_ Hikaru said. "Who's it by?"

"Utada Hikaru," Sayu responded. "And the song is called _Hikari_."

"... For serious?" Hikaru asked. "A singer with the same first name as me wrote a song with my baby sister's name as the title?"

"Sure did. I've been listening to this song ever since I was a little younger than you are now," Sayu said as she popped the CD into the player, closing it and looking through the tracks. "I used to sing it to Tenpei when he was younger."

"You did?" Tenpei asked.

"I did," Sayu said. "You might recognize it if you listen closely."

Just then, Akira let out his burp.

"Nice one, Akira-chan!! I give it six stars!!" Rally said.

And then the music from the CD player started, filling the room in seconds.

_**Donna toki datte,  
Tada hitori de.  
Unmei wasurete,  
Ikite kita no ni.  
Totsuzen no hikari no naka me ga sameru,  
Mayonaka ni... **_

_**Shizuka ni deguchi ni tatte,  
Kurayami ni hikari o ute. **_

_**Imadoki yakusoku nante fuan ni saseru dake kana?  
Negai o kuchi ni shitai dake sa.  
Kazoku ni mo shoukai suru yo,  
Kitto umaku iku yo. **_

_**Donna toki datte,  
Zutto futari de.  
Donna toki datte,  
Soba ni iru kara.  
Kimi to iu hikari ga watashi o mitsukeru,  
Mayonaka ni. **_

_**Urusai (When you turn my way...) toori ni haitte...  
Unmei (Take it all the way...) no kamen o tore... **_

_**Sakiyomi no shisugi nante imi no nai koto wa yamete.  
Kyou wa oishii mono o tabeyou yo.  
Mirai wa zutto saki da yo,  
Boku ni mo wakaranai. **_

_**Kansei sasenaide,  
Motto yokushite.  
Wan shiin zutsu totte,  
Ikeba ii kara.  
Kimi to iu hikari ga watashi no shinario,  
Utsushidasu. **_

_**Motto hanasou yo,  
Mokuzen no ashita no koto mo.  
Terebi keshite,  
Watashi no koto dake o miteite yo. **_

_**Donna ni yokuttatte,  
Shinji kirenai ne.  
Sonna toki datte,  
Soba ni iru kara.  
Kimi to iu hikari ga watashi o mitsukeru,  
Mayonaka ni. **_

_**Motto hanasou yo,  
Mokuzen no ashita no koto mo.  
Terebi keshite,  
Watashi no koto dake o miteite yo. **_

_**Motto hanasou yo,  
Mokuzen no ashita no koto mo.  
Terebi keshite,  
Watashi no koto dake o miteite yo. **_

"Lil' Light, I think this song fits you to a T!!" Hikaru said, taking the younger by surprise and sweeping her up into her arms.

"- Whoa!! Sissy-cha!!" Hikari blushed, feeling her skirt riding up.

"I can see it now..." Hikaru began. "Our names up in bright lights, a spot light appears above your head as the music starts!! And then, follows your angelic little voice... as it goes on, lights light up all around. At an aerial view, the lights spell out **_Hikari_** for the whole world to see!!" She set Hikari back down onto her feet. "Can't you just see it?"

"It's coming through..." Hikari responded, brushing her skirt down, praying to Kami no one saw the side of her underwear.

_**"- Ow!!"**_

"Huh?" Blitz turned his head, looking over at Jack. The older boy tried to keep his eyes from tearing as Akira's hands gripped his left earring, tugging playfully, giggling. "Haha, way to go, Akira!!"

_**"For the love of Kami, this is not funny at all!!"**_ Jack responded. _**"Fucking ow!!"**_

"Akira, let go." Hikari said, trying to get Akira's hands off of Jack's dangling A earring. "Akira..."

_**"Do you seriously think he can understand you?!"**_ Jack shouted in pain. _**"Ow, ow, ow!!"**_

"Akira," Hikari began, catching his attention. "Where'd Momma go?" she asked, covering her face with her hands.

Immediately, Akira's face faltered. He immediately began to cry, and unfortunately only began to tug on Jack's ear all the more.

_**"THAT DIDN'T HELP!!!"**_ the blonde screeched.

"Akira!! Akira, stop that!! Calm down!!" Hikari said, doing all she could to calm down her son.

_**"I'LL JUST CUT OFF MY KAMI DAMNED EAR!!!"**_

* * *

"Gomen nasai, Jack..."

Jack remained unresponsive at the moment, his head laid on his left side on the table. His ear was in a small bowl of ice.

"Akira's still new to the world, so, he doesn't really have a sense of right and wrong yet..." Hikari said.

"My ear feels like its bleeding..." Jack said, his left earring set on the table.

"And you used to be in Team Satisfaction?" Blitz asked.

"I ought to smack the daylights out of-" Jack winced when his ear was off of the ice for a short moment, gritting his teeth as he covered it with his hand.

"Jesus, your ear looks kinda swollen..." Rally said.

"Back on the ice!!" Hikaru said, pushing Jack's head down into the bowl of ice.

"Do I look like a little kid to you?" Jack asked.

"You certainly could be one," Hikaru said.

"_**It's**_ still here, Karu?"

"Setsuna," Hikaru glared at her brother as he walked in, carrying a box on his shoulder.

"Late work night?" Hikari asked as she stepped back up onto her step-stool.

"Yeah," Genji responded. "Now, let me see..." he began, placing the box on the table. "Must be around here somewhere..." he said, opening the box and rummaging through. "Ah, found it!!" he said, pulling out a manila folder.

"Whaddaya got now, Genj?" Hikaru asked, her hands on her hips.

"Just something that took my all day to get," Genji responded, twirling a lock of his dyed green hair with his finger. "I have Kami to thank for my awesome hacking skills."

"What did you do?" Hikaru asked, all of a sudden feeling nervous.

"I found our parents' profiles."

Hikari dropped the knife she was using to cut a tomato.

"Genji, are you nuts?!" Hikaru shouted. "Kami knows who our parents were!! For all we know they could have done something terrible!! If you were caught-"

"I taught you girls all I know about hacking," Genji began, cutting her off. "If you could hack into Security to break into the Tops, I'll be fine by hacking the Neo-Domino computer system, getting past Security without being caught, and finding three files."

"Three files? You can only have two parents..." Jack said.

"I have a different mother from Karu and Kari," Genji responded. "So there's that."

"But what if Sissy-cha is right?" Hikari asked. "What if they did do something terrible?"

"If they did, we'll just have to face it." Genji began, thumbing the end of the folder, about to open it. "As their children, we have the right to know... especially if Papa had two wives. I'd like to get to the bottom of why he had two women bear children for him."

Hikari felt numb as she picked up Akira from his swing, and something changed in Hikaru's eyes as Genji flipped the folder open.

"Fudo Hiraku," Genji read. "Ex-hakase for MIDS. Married to Fudo Hotaru. Currently deceased."

"Papa... he was a hakase?" Hikari asked.

"Apparently," Genji responded.

"I guess he really did die, then," Hikaru began. "If his records say so..."

"Tokai Hoshiko," Genji read, turning a page. "Known relatives; Fudo Hotaru, sister. Currently presumed dead."

"Guess our mothers were sisters after all," Hikaru said. "And your mother wasn't married to Papa, she just had his kids."

"Fudo Hotaru," Genji read from another page. "Ex-card designer for Industrial Illusions. Married to Fudo Hiraku. Currently deceased."

"Is that all it says for them, Genj?" Hikaru asked.

"No, they go into more detail." Genji responded. "Tells which of our mother had which kids, when we were born, lists us from oldest to youngest..." He closed the folder. "We'll look at it some more later, okay?"

* * *

"Jesus," Hikaru began as Hikari placed Akira in his bassinet. "Momma is beautiful!!"

Her eyes were locked onto a printed picture of her and Hikari's mother. It was beside part of her profile. She had long, radiant, wavy, silver hair streaked with blue and red, and wore a smile so beautiful it made her pale skin glow like moonlight. Her eyes were the same ocean blue Hikaru and Hikari had, the same as Yusei's and the same as Genji's.

"Hotaru," Hikaru said, wanting to hear her mother's name from her own mouth. "It fits her. Kari, you're the splitting image of Momma."

Hikari sat down beside Hikaru, smoothing out her skirt as she did, daring to look at the picture Hikaru kept on seeming to fuss over. It was like looking into a mirror of the future, because Hotaru looked like an older, grown-up version of herself - she was a mini-Hotaru.

"Despite the hair coloration, Sissy-cha looks like Momma, too." Hikari said.

"And Yusei," Genji began. "He looks like Pops."

"Which leaves your momma," Hikaru began. "Meaning, you and Tenshi must take after her."

"Yeah," Genji said, staring at her picture. "I wonder, though... why would two sisters have the same father for their children? Wouldn't they just fight over the man they wanted?"

"What if your momma wanted to be a momma?" Hikari asked. "Maybe Papa tried to help her..."

"... Right... help her..." Genji responded. "I don't really see how sleeping around would help my momma and our papa..."

"You know, I really wish we could have remembered them..." Hikaru said. "I know, we have little memories and stuff, but we can't remember them remember them... you know what I mean?"

"Yeah," Genji responded. "But Kari was too little to remember, and we suffered memory loss in an accident."

"Yeah, but that accident being what exactly?" Hikaru asked. "All I know is we woke up in the Satellite... you and I were barely seven, and Kari was one; still just a baby..."

"I thought I was three when we moved into the house," Hikari said.

"Yeah, that is right," Genji responded. "We were in an orphanage for two years. I landed myself a job, saved up everything I got, and was able to get us that house for keeps. The fact that we got living, breathing trees with them, too, that made it all the sweeter."

"I thought you remembered some of that, Kari," Hikaru said.

"I guess not..." Hikari responded.

"You know, we practically had to pry you outta the lady's arms there," Genji said with a chuckle. "Damn, her name and face slip my mind, but she was so sweet... and she's the reason why I adopted _Genji_ as my name over Setsuna. Kept on teasing and pestering me, so all of the other kids ended up doing it, too..."

"We were some of the lucky ones, that's for sure..." Hikaru sighed. "There was so much death and sickness there, it practically tore me apart inside..."

_Knock knock knock._

"Come in!" Hikari called.

"Yo," Blitz said as he poked his head into the room. "You guys okay? You've been locked in here awfully long..."

"We have priorities to sort through is all, Blitz," Genji responded. "Thank you for your worries, though."

"We shouldn't be much longer," Hikaru said.

"Take your time," Blitz said before he smiled and closed the door.

"Is Akira's room seriously the only private place we could come to?" Genji asked, looking around. He sweat-dropping upon seeing the painted unicorn on the wall. Wasn't his nephew a boy, after all? What kind of boy likes unicorns?

_"Setsuna-chan doesn't like the baby colors,"_ Hikaru sung, wrapping her arms around Genji's neck.

Genji bit his lip, trying not to shout for Akira's sake.

"That unicorn is kinda creeping me out..."

* * *

_**To Be Continued...**_

Gash: (Coloring a picture of a dinosaur in a coloring book)

Aki: The chapter's over...

Gash: (Jumps, making the coloring book and crayons fly into the air) O.O _**SPIES?!?!**_

Aki: The. Chap. Ter. Is. O. Ver.

Gash: Oooooh... ^-^ Okay!!

Zeon: Stuff happened in this chapter.

Gash: It sure did!! And before you people ask... yes, the names for the parents are real Japanese names. "Hiraku" isn't just "Hikaru" with the K and R switched, it means "expand, open, pioneer". "Hotaru" means "firefly", and "Hoshiko" means "star child". I got them off of behindthename(dot)com. It's a place I go to when I need a bit of help naming characters...

Aki: Which happens a lot...

Gash: Anywho, yeah. Before I forget, I wanted to name the song that Hikaru and Hikari were singing. It's _Fallen_ by Bret Michaels. He's one of the members of Poison, and he wrote the song _Every Rose Has Its Thorn_. _Fallen_ is a beautiful song... at least I think so. And I put up a YouTube link for the song up on my profile if you wanna hear it. As well as a link to _Hikari_, and a music box version of _Hikari_, which I heard before the original.

Zeon: I just returned from your profile web page, and I counted four YouTube links, not three.

Gash: Yeah, well... there were two versions of the _Fallen_ video. One with clips of _**Rock Of Love**_ in one with most of the original music video, and just the original music video. I decided to put both up because they're both great videos!!

Zeon: I found them both to be adequately developed.

Gash: ... ?___? Huh?

Zeon: They both were good.

Gash: Oh, okay!! So, anywho's it what-nows, review, please!!

Zeon: And if you don't review, I'll make you watch the most horrid video in the world...


	5. Empty

"Hikaru, don't you know that over-exposure to this sort of thing can gravely affect a baby's growth and health?"

"Setsuna, now you're just embarrassing yourself..." Jack mumbled.

**_"I DID NOT TELL YOU THAT YOU COULD CALL ME _'SETSUNA',_ ASSLESS!!!"_** Genji practically shrieked.

"And I don't recall giving you permission to call me 'Assless', an obviously half-assed mockery of my surname 'Atlas'." Jack responded calmly.

"You may be winning over my sisters, my brother, and my nephew, but you will not win over me or my little brother!!" Genji exclaimed.

"Genji, lighten up." Hikaru said, pushing the green-haired boy back down into his seat. "Jack has been here for a week. Why can't you just get along?"

"Sorry for not trusting a kidnapper," Genji said, crossing his arms.

"Dude, Hikari was the one kidnapped, and she isn't afraid of him!!" Rally said. "Light-chan is braver than you take on."

"Nii-sama only needs someone to lay the blame on for something," Hikari said, her and Hikaru busy at the stove. "He'll take things at his own pace."

"Can't we at least let someone else feed Akira when you can't?" Genji whined, almost ready to cry at the sight of Akira's hands gripping Jack's thumb and pinkey; the blonde was still able to hold the bottle for the baby to eat, though.

"Akira's taken a liking to Jack," Hikari said. "He's been helping take care of him."

"Genji, why can't you just trust Jack?" Nerve asked. "We all make mistakes..."

"Besides," Hikaru began. "You were mad at Yusei for all of two and a half minutes when you found out Hikari was kidnapped. What's so different now?"

Genji didn't respond, only kept his head covered with his arms, staring at the wall.

**Yusei: "Empty."**

"You were gone an awfully long time just to see a psychic,"

Crow could only nod in response, tucking Yusei into bed. Somehow, miraculously, without the aid of medication, he had fallen asleep when they arrived back at Martha's.

"We ran into several Dark Signers," Crow responded. "Yusei couldn't speak properly during the duels, but he still managed to beat them all. We were practically surrounded by Dark Signers. They were everywhere. When ever we had to rest, we had to do it in the daytime. They seemed to be less frequent during that time..."

"The psychic... did she manage to answer any questions of yours?" Martha asked.

"She said there was something missing from Yusei's life," Crow responded. "She seemed to know everything about the story of the Five Signers, and the way that Yusei's birthmark keeps glowing, she could just feel the strong waves it gave off."

"She could only tell us that there were two, big apparent things missing. Burdens and happiness," Tenshi said.

"It doesn't make sense at all, though," Crow said, remaining unchanging when Martha placed a worn-looking, honey brown-furred stuffed bear into Yusei's arm. Immediately, his arm tightened around it, holding it a bit closer. "Yusei keeps on talking about all of these bad, burdenful things. It is true that happiness isn't really one of his more common emotions right now... but burdens? That's got to be the most plentiful thing in his system."

"Most psychics can only see an outline," Martha said, petting Yusei's hair once before she stood back up straight. "There could be something deeper in what she said."

"Maybe he knew someone named Burden, and someone named Happy?" Tenshi asked.

"That, I highly doubt..." Crow sweat-dropped. "People are strange, but not that strange."

"Must we all have a name like 'Crow', then?" Tenshi asked.

"You tell me, Angel Boy."

_"Sssh!!"_ Martha hushed almost harshly.

"Sorry, Martha..." they replied.

_"Hikari..."_

"Huh?" Crow blinked, looking down at Yusei.

As usual, when the raven-haired boy fell asleep, he was sniffling and hiccuping with tears falling down his face.

_"Hikaru..."_

* * *

Jack jerked awake, almost afraid when he realized his head was covered. He heard the click of a lamp switch, and then something was lifted off of his head.

"I wasn't trying to suffocate you."

Jack pushed himself up, able to clearly see Genji as he plopped himself down on the opposite end of the couch. His hands folded into his lap. There was no way even the all mighty Genji could have hid the fact he had been crying. The skin around his eyes was puffy, his eyes were a bit pink, and there was a definite dryness of tears on his face.

"Hikari was right, okay?" Genji asked without waiting for Jack to say anything.

"And she would be right about what?" Jack asked.

"She's right about me needing to blame someone, okay?" Genji asked.

Jack's eye caught a glance at the grandfather clock against the wall opposite of the couch. Barely a few minutes past three o'clock in the morning.

"Look, yeah, I can tell you're a hell of a lot nicer than you used to be," Genji began. "And why you had to take Hikari, I just know it had something to do with Akira. I'm not going to touch that subject; Akira... he's made all of us happier." Picking his head up, Genji looked over at Jack. "All I see in you is just Yusei. The thought of him makes me feel both angry... and sad. He's the reason in the first place that Hikari became involved with the Signers... he changed her. He left us... he completely up and ran away from us... the fucking coward..."

Genji muttered swears in Spanish beneath his breath, which Jack couldn't interpret or hear.

"All I can do is just blame and blame and blame... I'm just so damn protective of my sisters..." Genji said, picking up his hand and wiping his eyes with his palm. "The last thing I want is someone to hurt them or take them away from me... they were lucky they survived whatever accident we lost our memories in."

The blonde remained silent.

"I know that Yusei returned to the Satellite to find our brother," Genji continued. "But I'm just so damn selfish... I'd rather have him here with us, but then what about Tenshi? There's nothing we'd be able to do about him... it's practically impossible to return to the city after being in the Satellite. And then his letter..."

Jack could only keep listening.

"When he wrote us and told us Tenshi was frail and sick, I almost felt like that meant he'd be back soon. Now it's been two weeks... and they aren't here. Instead, Yusei sent you here to look after us. Yeah, I know, Yusei only wants us to be okay, but to me, it somehow tells me he may never get back, and that I may not ever get to see Tenshi in person. Yusei's too cowardly to come back..." Genji fisted the hand on his face. "It just makes my blood boil!" His other hand punched the couch cushion. "I'm too selfish... I'm angry at two people I barely know, and one of them is my own brother!"

"I know how you feel," Jack said.

"How could you understand?" Genji asked, looking over at Jack. "You never had anyone run out on you."

"My mother left me." Jack responded.

That was something Genji hadn't been expecting. All he could do was turn away, letting his head hang again, staring downwards.

"Is that right?"

"Yeah..." Jack responded, turning his head to the side, looking away from the older boy - as far as he knew, Genji was older than him. "She was the only person in my family who survived the accident. When she had to give me up, she left me at the orphanage Yusei was in. She was too sick to take care of me anymore... and for the longest time, I thought she didn't love me anymore. She was so beautiful, and she was so nice, and when she left me there, my heart turned into a complete brick, and then when I found out she died, the brick completely broke. I stopped talking, I stopped smiling, I stopped being around others, I completely shut myself away. It was one day out of the blue when Yusei asked me to play with him... he was the one who cracked my shell. His ways... they're a little complicated, and even a little, different, but he's always there. He always comes back..."

Genji breathed out his nose, sitting back up straightly.

"Some ways..." Genji said. "He doesn't know what he's putting us through. Hikaru's his older twin. She feels everything he feels. She's been telling me she's been feeling all of these complicated, strong emotions. Some of them over-power her, and she ends up crying. She just has that kind of sense when it comes to siblings... she always knows, even if she feels for someone who has no blood relation to us at all." The side of his hand wiped his eyes, unable to hide the tears on his face. "That idiot... he doesn't know what it's like to have a family. A real family. All he knows are friends, gangs, and foster mothers. He's the most idiotic brother who ever lived!"

"Yusei tries his hardest,"

Genji blinked, looking up at Jack, confused at the sternness in the others voice.

"All that Yusei can do is his best. He doesn't know what a family is like, that is true, because he closed himself off from that kind of a feeling." Jack continued. "But that doesn't mean he wasn't in his own family. Rally feels for him like an older brother, Nerve and Taka and Blitz, they call him their brother, too. Yusei never told anyone else but me that he was too afraid of losing someone, but then we kept on losing people. It was painful for us to part with Martha, it was painful when we found out Kiryu died, it was painful when Crow up and left, and no doubt it was painful when I left them."

"Why is everyone always defending him?!" Genji snapped. "Even you. You're practically his bitch!"

"He is the best friend I've ever had!" Jack responded. "You don't know Yusei the way I do. You're just too afraid to believe that he will come back, because you're so sure he won't come back. Yusei never breaks a promise. He promised he'd bring Tenshi back with him, didn't he?"

"I-"

"Didn't he?"

Genji huffed out his nose, looking away again.

"Yes, he did."

"Why can't you just believe he will come back?"

Genji didn't respond. He stood up, turning off the lamp as he headed back to the doorway.

"Are we cool?" Genji asked.

"Yeah," Jack responded.

Giving a nod, Genji headed down the hallway.

* * *

"Hey, Miss Martha?"

"Yes, Tenshi?"

From the porch-like place in the back of the orphanage, Tenshi stared off at Yusei. His half-brother was a bit of a long way's off, behind the black gates of a cemetery. There he sat in front of a grave with the headstone of a white rock, the bear Martha had given him in his arm still.

"Who is Nii-san visiting?"

Martha sighed, a sad look in her eyes.

"The day that Yusei and the others left here, Yusei visited a sickly little girl. Hanako was her name," Martha said. "She was only eight years old at the time. A local doctor of a sort had diagnosed her with leukemia, a type of cancer."

Martha almost thought she'd cry when she saw Yusei reach a hand out, tracing the name on the headstone.

"She'd been living with it for three years before they left," Martha continued. "That bear that Yusei is holding? It belonged to him, but the day he left, he gave it to her. It was something for her to remember him by, for all of the children to remember him by. He always tried his best to help the children..."

"What happened to Hanako?" Tenshi asked.

"A year later, she passed away..." Martha replied. "Someone who ended up leaving here ran into Yusei by chance, and told him about it. Yusei... before he befriended Jack, he clung to that simple bear in an almost lonely way... he said he'd wanted Hanako to always have someone to cling to if she needed so. Before she died, she handed me that bear - Charlie is its name - and she told me to give it back to Yusei. I told her I would, and then she told me she lived a good life, which she did... and then she closed her eyes, and she never woke up again."

Tenshi sniffled, pulling a white handkerchief from his pocket and wiping his eyes. He somehow couldn't seem to hold back his tears for a girl he never knew.

"We buried her the next day," Martha continued. "And we planted flowers at her grave. A month before she died, she told me not to bury her in a casket. She wanted mother nature to cradle her body, so that she could join into the earth and help create new life. The flowers that grow there, we don't water them ourselves. Every year they die, let their seeds drop, and regrow and rebloom the year after. The rain waters them, the sun nurtures them, and Hanako grows them."

Tenshi looked out at Yusei again. The bear - Charlie - was held in his right arm tightly, and his left hand was out-stretched to the headstone.

"When Hanako was diagnosed, the doctor said she'd only have a month to live at the most." Martha said. "But Yusei, he tried his best to help take care of her. He did it all without being asked or being told. Giving up Charlie for her was the most unpredictable thing that he did. He's a child with a heart of gold..."

The boy with bluish-white hair looked over at Martha.

"Miss Martha, you don't think Yusei-Nii-san's going crazy, do you?" Tenshi asked with concern in his voice.

"Oh, Tenshi," Martha began. "Yusei isn't crazy. The way I see him, he seems broken-hearted."

"Broken-hearted?" Tenshi asked.

"I can read this boy like I'm his mother," Martha said, looking back out at Yusei. "He seems like there's something he needs."

_Does he miss our sisters and our brother?..._ Tenshi thought.

* * *

_**To Be Continued...**_

And there's chapter five!!... Erm, well... actually, most of this was written yesterday when I wrote chapter four. Up until Genji left Jack in the living room, that was going to be the end of chapter four. It ended up being a little too long for my liking, so I cut it to the end of the scene with the three talking in the nursery, and then I decided to add in a scene with Yusei in it here. Took me a while to figure out what I wanted to write for it, though...

Zeon: I like the conceptual workmanship placed into the final scene of the chapter that was originally in chapter four.

Gash: ... Ze-Zo, you sure do use some big words... ~.~

Aki: He's a genious, remember?

Gash: _Riiiiiiiiight..._

Zeon: And now Gash would like to say a few more words.

Gash: Well, I watched the two recorded Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's episodes on TV last night - I have a Teevo... or however you spell it - and found out Kiryu's dub name... -.-' 4Kids has ruined another good series.

Aki: Why? What's his name?

Gash: Kalin. Sure, they keep Yusei's name, but change "Kiryu" to "Kalin"? A name that for some reason reminds me of "Jaden"?

Aki: They do kind of rhyme...

Zeon: At least the ending sound of the final syllables are an N sound.

Gash: Yeah, well, if they change Crow's name, I'm not going to bother watching the dub anymore. Anywho's it what-nows, review please!!

Zeon: And if you don't review, I'll call 4Kids and have them change your name into something so American it'll make you eat your own face.

Aki: O.o What the hell?...


	6. Letter

Martha lifted the small bucket of water and poured it over the mound covered with soap. Yusei was unwrapped from the bubbles, blinking his eyes open. His right hand, while his birthmark continued to glow, lightly splashed the surface of the water. He continued to do so, in the slightest childish manner, as Martha washed his back with a cloth.

"You certainly have lost a lot of weight," Martha said, being careful of Yusei's skinny body. She could almost feel every single one of his back bones, feel his ribs, shoulder blades...

She dunked the cloth into the water and brought it up again, bringing it up to Yusei's face. Carefully, she washed his face before bringing it to his ears, which made Yusei wriggle and make a sound like a whine; like a little kid. When she lifted the cloth away again, Yusei dunked his body into the water completely, and swirled around like a fish curled up into a ball.

Martha pulled the plug of the tub, and picked Yusei up with a large white towel. She dried his hair until it was a poofed up, fluffy mound, and then carefully dried his body. She then was only able to dress him into his boxer shorts before he, still wrapped in the towel, began to scurry away.

"And where do you think you're going, young man?" Martha asked, her hands on her hips as Yusei pushed the door open.

Like a lion cub learning how to walk for the first time, he crawled out. Giving a sigh and shaking her head, Martha stood up, following him. She noticed that Charlie, whom Yusei had sat against the wall next to the door, was missing. Glancing down the hallway, she saw the end of Yusei's towel being pulled after him around a corner. She walked slowly after him, and found him in the kitchen, hiding beneath the table. Charlie was in his arms.

_"Yuseeeeei,"_ Martha began to call, like she knew nothing about where he was. _"Oh, Yuuuuuseeeeeeeeiiiiii..."_ She smiled when she heard him giggling a little, like a little kid. She then ducked under the table, pulling him out. "Gotcha!!"

Yusei squirmed around, whining in defeat. Martha petted the hair on the top of his head as she began to carry the light-weighted boy back down the hallway to his room. Giving up, Yusei laid his head onto her shoulder, as if defeated.

**Yusei: "Letter."**

"So we start going to school next week?" Rally asked.

"Uh-huh," Hikari said, taping Akira's diaper closed. "We should be getting our uniforms in the mail within a few day."

"I can't wait!!" Rally said, punching his fist up into the air. "We're gonna prove people from the Satellite ain't just slums!!"

_"Sssh!!"_ Hikari shushed, picking Akira up. "Why don't you just go run down to the news station and shout that for me? There's already rumors of Jack originating from the Satellite..." she asked as they headed out of the nursery.

"I get too damn excited," Rally said, hitting himself on the side of his head lightly. "I must be running low on my sugar intakes..."

"The last thing you need is sugar, believe me." Jack said, flipping through a magazine when they returned to the living room.

"You know, Okaa-sama was talking with me last night," Tenpei began when Hikari and Rally sat back down. "She's going to start looking into a bigger place for us to live. Rooms can't be shared forever, and when Akira gets bigger, it'll be safer for him to wander around."

"Plus the fact Little Dipper and Mao-Mao take up more space than they need..." Hikaru said, Little Dipper asleep in her lap.

"Mao-Mao practically took control of the bathroom..." Rally sweat-dropped. "And she stares at you while you go..."

Jack sighed roughly when the annoying ring from his cell phone went off. Fishing it out of his pocket, he pressed the green button and brought it to his ear.

"What is it, Mikage?"

**_"ATLAS-SAMA, HAVE YOU SEEN THE ARTICLE IN _'THE DAILY DUELLETTE NEWS'_?!?!"_** she practically screeched, making every one else hear her.

"Could you shout that again? I'm not quite deaf enough yet..." Jack said, and before the bluenette woman could freak out, he cut her off. "I'm reading it right now."

_**"ISN'T IT OUTRAGEOUS?!?! DO YOU WANT ME TO REPORT IT AND COMPLAIN?!?! HOW ABOUT CAUSE A RIOT?!?! ALL I NEED TO DO IS CALL MY UNCLE - HE OWES ME SOME FAVORS - AND HE'LL HAVE A RIOT STARTED DOWN AT EVERY NEWS STATION AND MAGAZINE PUBLISHING BUILDING!!!"**_

"Are you hyperventilating again?"

_**"ATLAS-SAMA, ARE YOU UNWELL?!?!"**_

"I'll deal with this on my own time!"

_**"Oh, by the way, Godwin says you have a duel tonight!!"**_

"I told you to cancel all of my duels until further notice; I'm busy."

_**"BUT ATLAS-SAMA!!!"**_

_Knock knock knock._

"I should have known..." Jack sighed, pressing the red button to hang up on Mikage.

_**"ATLAS-SAMA?!?! ATLAS-SAMA?!?! OH KAMI, I'D BETTER CALL AN AMBULANCE!!!"**_

Jack opened the door, catching the falling and crying woman.

"You've been stalking me, haven't you?"

"Define stalking..."

_**"HIKARU, HIKARI!!!"**_

Genji knocked over Jack and Mikage as he ran past them, Mikage landing on top of the blonde.

"MUP called," Genji began, holding up a magazine. "Said the phones are ringing off of the hooks."

"What the hell?!" Hikaru exclaimed, standing up after setting down Little Dipper, snatching it away from him. "_**'Dos Brite Lites Identities Revealed: Sisters Of The New Duel King, Fudo Yusei. See inside for details'**_..."

"Nani?! How did they find out?!" Hikari asked, standing up.

"The tabloids have their ways of finding out everything!" Genji said. "It might have been made easier after the hacking I did to find our parents' profiles... if you're going to yell at someone, yell at me."

"This is unbelieveable..." Hikaru said, opening up to the first page. "I am not involved with Jack romantically!! Where do you get your resources, from a cereal box?!"

"Sissy-cha, you know they can't hear you through that..." Hikari sweat-dropped.

"_**'Their voices and musical talents are too good to be true because they are,'**_" Hikaru read. "_**'Like the former Duel King Atlas Jack and the New Duel King Fudo Yusei, Dos Brite Lites, finally revealed to be Fudo Hikaru and Fudo Hikari, daughters of the late Hakase Fudo Hiraku, they may have originated from the Satellite. There is yet to have solid evidence found, but it has been revealed that Fudo Hikari was framed for the Tops crimes - the crime of hacking into Security to break into the Tops. The second suspect was reported to be dead...'**_"

"Baby Jesus..." Blitz said.

"**_'Good news lays with all of this, for they may hold information as to where Yusei has disappeared to. Security may appear to interrogate them about this, but no such things have happened yet. Watch _'Truth Or Dare: Rumors Uncovered!'_ on channel seventy-three at eight pm every night to find out more.'_**"

Hikaru dropped the magazine to the floor and struck the wall.

_**"DAMN IT!!!"**_ she screeched. _**"This is what I was afraid off!! Celebrities have every little aspect of their lives broadcast to the public like we're their gerbils in a box!! If that's the way they're going to treat us, we'll stop creating music for them!!"**_

"Why can't people just see past the apparent things?" Hikari asked, looking down at Akira, whom smiled up at his momma. "If we all could just forget about things like this, then maybe some day people would all be treated equal. Satellite or no Satellite, marks or unmarks."

"Unfortunately, no one can see the world we way we do, Kari." Hikaru said. "They don't see the things we go through... they don't know our past, our present, our future..."

"The sooner we can move into a new place, the better," Tenpei said. "It just sucks on how long it might take to find somewhere..."

Jack, helping Mikage back up onto her feet, felt something click in his brain.

"You could move in with me,"

"Huh?" Hikari asked.

"Holy shit, he has a soul..." Blitz said.

"Ignoring that..." Jack mumbled. "My place is secluded enough. It's illegal to fly helicopters too close to it, and we're up higher than anyone else in the Tops. There's an entire building with high security, and then there's the mansion right on top. It has a billions of yen worth view of the city, a garden, a pool, artificial hot springs..." He gave them a moment to let them jaw-drop in aw. "It's secluded, and there's more space than I have stuff."

"Are you for serious?" Genji asked. "- I'm not gonna be unbuttoning my shirt and crying in a minute, am I?"

Hikaru smacked Genji atop of the head.

"As long as I'm staying here, there's going to be nothing but smack-down lies published over and over again in a more intense story until people get bored of drinking up the juice is oozes," Jack said. "It'll affect you girls even more, it'll affect me even more, and then it won't be anyone's fault when you end up taking a swing at a reporter."

"But what about all of the tabloids out to get us?" Hikaru asked.

"We want people to know the truth," Hikari added.

"I can help with that," Jack said, taking out his cell phone. "I'll just need to make one phone call."

* * *

"How much time do you think he has?"

Crow sighed, continuing to run his hand down the top of Yusei's head and down the back. He didn't know why he continued to do so; no matter what, Yusei kept on crying and hiccuping.

"I don't know, Martha..." Crow responded. "There may be a chance he may never recover. This could be the death of him..."

Crow shut his eyes tightly and turned his head away when Yusei began to whine in fear, wriggling around under the blankets.

"I wish there was something I could do..." Crow said. "If his family back in the city can... maybe they can help him."

"How was it he was able to deliver the two letters?" Martha asked.

"I don't know..." Tenshi said. "He wrote them, sealed them, and then left them on the windowsill. In the morning, they were gone."

Crow stood up, heading over to the desk. Opening a drawer, he took out a piece of paper and an envelope.

"Then that's what we'll try," Crow said, sitting down. "What are your siblings' names again?"

"Uh... Setsuna, Hikaru, and Hikari." Tenshi said. "Yusei said to call Setsuna 'Genji', though."

"Works for me," Crow began, the tip of his fountain pen swiftly already writing across the page. "_**'Dear Genji, Hikaru and Hikari,'**_" he began. "_**'Normally Yusei writes you these letters, but at the moment he is incapable of doing so. This is Crow, Yusei's friend and ally. I don't know how else to say this, other than Yusei's health is deteriorating rapidly. We practically have to force-feed him, he's incapable of dressing himself and bathing himself, and he hasn't spoken properly in weeks. When ever he sleeps, he cries and cries and cries. Martha, Tenshi and I are at a dead end. We've consulted doctors, and they can only say he's going crazy, and when we consulted a psychic, she told he's missing two major things in his life; burdens and happiness. If you can make anything of this, respond as soon as possible. Please help us if you can... for the sake of Yusei. Sincerely, Crow.'**_"

"Do you think this will work Crow-kun?" Tenshi asked.

"We can only hope and pray, Tens..." Crow said as he folded the letter, sealing it in the envelope. He wrote _**Genji, Hikaru and Hikari**_ on the front of the envelope.

Tenshi took the envelope from the orange-haired boy, and headed over to the open window. He placed it on the sill, weighing it down with a small rock so it wouldn't blow away in the wind. Giving a small smile, he hoped that whoever took the last three letters away and delivered them would return.

* * *

"Well, this is the last of the boxes."

Hikaru held two boxes with her right arm, Genji holding two stacked on top of one another in both of his hands, and he was beginning to look a little winded.

"Lil' Light, d'you have everything of Akira's you need on you?" Hikaru asked.

Hikari stared at the now bare wall, holding Akira in his carrying seat.

"Kari? You okay?" Genji asked, setting his boxes down.

"... This was our home for a while..." Hikari said. "... Leaving it, I feel sadsu..."

Hikaru set down her boxes as well, her and Genji standing on either side of Hikari.

"I know how you feel," she said, rubbing her sister's shoulder with her human hand. Her robotic hand was held down at her side. "But now we're starting a new chapter. We need another fresh start..."

"... You know, I was already beginning to picture our new family photo..." Hikari said. "Like Nii-san said in his letter... I saw it hanging on the wall there, where there was nothing up... I could see us, him, and Hermano Tenshi..."

"Don't worry, Lil' Light," Hikaru said, wrapping her arms around Hikari's shoulders. "They'll be with us soon enough... and then we can get our family photo done. We'll be the biggest, happiest family who ever did live..."

Letting her gaze drop, Hikari lifted Akira's seat a bit higher up to her before she turned around, heading out the door.

"Lets go, Karu," Genji said, picking up the boxes he set down before.

"Right," Hikaru said, picking up her two boxes with ease and heading out after Hikari, Genji tagging right behind them.

* * *

"The letter is still here,"

Crow blinked, picking up his head. He looked over to the doorway, and there stood Tenshi. Blue-white hair was in a mess from sleep, and light blue eyes looked like they could cry.

"Crow-kun, it's been three days," Tenshi said. "I don't know if they'll ever come and get it. Nii-sama and I will never be with our family again... and I'll never be able to see my big brother again!!"

"Aw, Tens," Crow began, getting up from the table and approaching the younger boy. "Don't cry," he said, kneeling down, wiping Tenshi's tears from his cheeks with his fingers. "No matter how long it takes," He brought the younger into a comforting embrace. "I'll see to it that the letter gets delivered, okay? We'll give it one more night, okay?"

Tenshi wiped at his cheeks himself.

"I promised Momma I'd try and get to Setsuna again..." Tenshi whispered. "We missed him so much..."

"You'll be with him again soon," Crow said. "When You go to Neo-Domino, you'll be reunited."

The two boys then picked up their heads, looking over at the doorway when they heard a whine. Yusei poked his head around the corner, staring at them with lonely eyes.

"Hey, Yuse," Crow began, letting Tenshi go and standing back up. "You okay?"

Yusei reached a trembling hand out towards Crow, whining again.

"Okay, okay..." Crow said, heading over to Yusei. "I gotcha," he said as he picked Yusei up, whose weight felt like nothing to him. The raven-haired boy wrapped his legs around Crow's waist, his hands holding onto Crow's shoulders, all the while Charlie was still held in his arm.

Tenshi stared at Yusei almost helplessly.

"Nii-sama..."

_What will... what will become of our future?..._

* * *

_**To Be Continued...**_

Well, that should be good for now... I was gonna add more, but I'll leave it for the next chappy!!

Zeon: You're starting to make me wonder what will happen...

Gash: Really? I thought I jumped around a little too much...

Aki: At least you're not jump-roping around too much...

Gash: Eh, I don't play it alone... I make myself trip.

Aki: Who else but you, really? Who else but you?

Gash: Jaden?

Aki: ... Besides him.

Gash: Anywho, reviews would be greatly appreciated!! I've been a little bone-dried of them, despite all of my recent updates...

Zeon: And if you don't review, I will personally make sure all of your bones are picked dry... in other words, I'll eat you.


	7. Playing With Suffering

"Hikaru, would you mind putting on a more appropriate song?"

_**"SORRY, CAN'T HEAR YA!!!"**_ Hikaru exclaimed, air-guitaring.

_**HEY HEY! Ningen SUCKER!! Aa ningen... ningen FUCKER!!  
HEY HEY! Ningen SUCKER!! Aa ningen... ningen FUCKER!!  
HEY HEY! Ningen SUCKER!! Aa ningen... ningen FUCKER!!  
HEY HEY! Ningen SUCKER!! Aa ningen... ningen FUCKER!!**_

_**WHAT'S UP PEOPLE?!  
WHAT'S UP PEOPLE?!  
WHAT'S UP PEOPLE?!  
WHAT'S UP PEOPLE?!**_

_**"TURN IT DOWN I HAVE A MIGRAINE!!!"**_

"Oh, sorry, Jack-Jack!!"

Jack could feel his brain throbbing, and he collapsed down onto his couch; a couch that was much more comfortable than the one he'd been sleeping on in the Hayano household. He groaned, rubbing his temples.

"I get carried away with music on the radio sometimes..."

"Calm yourself, Jack, remember your blood pressure..." Jack told himself.

"Atlas-sama," Mikage began as she walked in. "Carly-san just called. She said she'll be over this afternoon around two."

"Great..."

"Should I get you your painkillers again?" Mikage asked.

"It would be greatly appreciated..."

"Ohayou!"

"Ohayou, Hikari! Tenpei-kun!" Hikaru greeted.

"Oh!! Ohayou!!" Mikage bowed.

"Ohayou, Mikage-chama." Hikari bowed, Akira in her arms. "Long time no seesu."

"E-erm..." Golden yellow eyes laid onto Akira. "So, this is your younger brother? He's very handsome." she said, petting the hair atop of Akira's head once.

"Actually, he's my son."

_**"- Huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh?!?!"**_

"Mikage, go lie down..." Jack said.

"R-right..." Mikage said, walking back out the door. "- Wait!! Your pain pills!!" She then broke into a run, careful not to break the heels of her shoes.

"Is she alright?" Tenpei asked.

"That's normal for her..." Jack said.

"Ooh, ooh, ooh!! Kari, Kari, Kari!! One of our covers is on the radio again!!" Hikaru said, turning up the radio volume a tad.

Hikaru: _**KISS, KISS, FALL IN LOVE!  
MAYBE YOU'RE MY LOVE!**_

_**Kidzukeba itsudemo soba ni iru keredo,  
HONTO wa KIRAI? SUKI? mousou na no?**_

_**Jibun no kimochi ga KURIA ni mietara,  
REDII demo HOSUTO demo kamawanai yo.**_

_**SUKI ni natteku riyuu wa minna,  
Chigau yo ne KEDO,  
MAYBE YOU'RE MY LOVE!**_

_**Aitai ima yasashii kimi ni SAKURA KISS;  
TOKIMEITARA ranman koi shiyo!  
Mirai yori mo ima ga kanjin uruwashi,  
Haru no koi wa hanasaku otome no bigaku!**_

"I'm back I'm back I'm back!!" Mikage exclaimed, almost skidding into the wall. It was a miracle and a wonder as to how the glass of water with ice in it hadn't spilt. "Here," she said, leaning over the back of the couch, handing Jack the glass and opening the pill container, giving him two. "Sorry to take so long... I accidentally broke two glasses in the kitchen... but I cleaned them up!! Take them out of my salary this week!!"

"That's okay," Jack responded, swallowing the pills and drinking half of the ice water through the straw. "They're only glasses. I'll order some more from the mercantile later."

"C'mon, Kari!! Sing with me!!" Hikaru exclaimed, taking her sister's hands.

_**"- Whoaaaaa!!"**_ Hikari exclaimed, and if it hadn't been for Mikage, Akira would have been dropped onto the floor.

"Hey, nice catch," Tenpei said.

"Sing, my Kari!! Sing!!"

Hikari: _**Tatoeba atashi no mada shiranai kimi,  
Mitsukete mitai kedo kowaku mo ARU.**_

_**DENIMU ni FURIRU ni KAJUARU ni CHAINA,  
Autabi shichi henge kakugo asobe.**_

_**Tsugitsugi hiraku ai no tobira wa,  
SURIRU mansai,  
Danzen koi shiyo!**_

_**Isogashikute surechigau hi mo SAKURA KISS;  
Setsunai hodo ranman koi DESU!  
Yowai TOKO mo uketome aou fureau ai,  
Wa muteki sakasou futari wa shuyaku!**_

Hikaru and Hikari: _**Mabushii sora ni makenai omoide tsukurou ima**_

_**Danzen koi shiyo!**_

_**Aitai ima yasashii kimi ni SAKURA KISS;  
TOKIMEITARA ranman koi shi yo!  
Mirai yori mo ima ga kanjin uruwashi  
Haru no koi wa.  
Hanasaku otome no bigaku, YEAH!  
Hanasaku otome no bigaku!**_

_**KISS, KISS, FALL IN LOVE!  
MAYBE YOU'RE MY LOVE!**_

"I'm starting to think going back to bed would be my best bet..." Jack said.

**Yusei: "Playing With Suffering."**

_**"Crow-kun, Crow-kun, Crow-kun!!"**_

"Nani? What is it, Tenshi-chan?"

Tenshi smiled brightly, not even noticing he had only just managed to not trip over his own feet. He held up the rock from the windowsill proudly.

"The letter was gone this morning!!"

Crow blinked.

"Really?"

"Setsuna's gonna help, Setsuna's gonna help!!" Tenshi cheered. "Setsuna's gonna help Nii-sama!! We're gonna be a family!!"

Crow smiled, amused at the boy's pep.

"Well, the sooner they get the letter, the better." Crow said. "I just hope they can do something... because, Kami knows when more Dark Signers will be coming our way."

"Crow-kun, I'm gonna go outside and play with the others!! Okay?"

"Okay, Tens. You be careful."

"Hi Martha!! Bye Martha!!" Tenshi said as he ran out the back door.

"Tenshi's mood seems to be turned upside-down," Martha said, closing the door with a basket of fruit in her hand.

"The letter finally wasn't there this morning." Crow said. "That means, hopefully, that soon, Yusei's family can help us... somehow. They never did write back when Yusei sent them letters..."

"Perhaps Jack can end up helping them," Martha said. "He and Yusei go way back."

"Everyone knows that," Crow said.

"Well," Martha began, placing the fruit into the refrigerator. "Hopefully something can be done."

"We can only sit and hope now, Martha..." Crow said, staring out the window. "We can only sit and hope..."

* * *

"Jack, this place is gorgeous!! We can't thank you enough for letting us move in with you," Sayu said.

"It's my pleasure; now it actually feels like human beings live in here."

"I think I could get lost in here..." Rally said.

"You did get lost," Blitz said. "I found you outside my bedroom at four am, passed out and sucking your thumb."

"You swore you would never tell!!"

Mikage looked toward the hallway as she heard the whistle of the tea kettle.

"Oh, the tea's ready! I'll be right back!" she said, bowing before she left the room.

"So, Jack-Jack," Hikaru began. "Before I get off track again, who's this Carly girl you've called over?"

"Oh dear Kami above, he's in a relationship with a woman... does she know you're not human?" Blitz asked.

"Stop that," Jack said. "She's a rising reporter, and a bit of a close friend of mine. Ever since we bumped into each other by chance, she's written all of the articles where I'm interviewed. She's not like all of the other reporters; she cites her sources accurately, and she doesn't write lies. She writes about true stories, not fictional bullshit."

"I knew it, you've sucked out her soul."

_**WHACK!!**_

"Just because we're no longer in the Satellite doesn't mean I won't be how I used to be," Jack said as Blitz rubbed his cheek.

"Great... I haven't been back-handed slapped in years..." Blitz said.

"Turn that frown upside-down!!" Hikaru exclaimed, nearly shoving her face into Blitz's. "Dun make me tickle yah!!"

"I'm smiling, I'm smiling!!"

"Here we are," Mikage began, walking into the living room again with a tray. The tea pot was set upon it with tea cups. "Fresh, hot tea!"

Jack pulled out his cell phone when the annoying ring reached his ears. Mikage placed down the tray onto the coffee table.

"Moshi-moshi," Jack said. "Oh, Carly-san. You're here already?... Yeah, come on up..." He blinked. "Directions?... Yes, I am aware there is a big building. Okay, well go down hallway 3C until you find a blue elevator, go up to floor seven, then go down hallway 6B, go through door 2D, and then find the green elevator. Go up to floor fifteen, and then the... I lost you at _3C_, didn't I?... Look, don't worry about it, I'll come down and pick you up myself." Pause. "Right... see you in ten."

"You were messing with her, weren't you?" Nerve asked as Jack pocketed his phone.

"I gotta have a little fun sometimes," Jack said, standing up. "I'll be back shortly, Mikage."

"Okay, Atlas-sama."

As Jack closed the door behind himself, Godwin descended down the stairs.

"Jack, what is all of the racket down here?" He then blinked in an almost amused manner when he saw the people gathered in the living room. "Oh? What's all this?"

"I'm certain Atlas-sama was clear before," Mikage began, bowing. "He said the Fudos and Hayanos would be moving in here."

"Oh, just like me, I must have forgotten," Godwin said.

"Who the hell are you?" Genji asked.

"Godwin Rex," Godwin said, his hands folded behind his back. "I'm the head of the Public Security Maintenance Bureau," He then gave a smile. "'Security' for short."

Hikari hadn't looked toward him when she heard his voice. She stared out the window, holding Akira closely to herself in her arms.

"I believe Hikari and I are already aquainted."

"Yeah, yeah..." the little girl responded.

"Jack just went down to get a reporter named Carly," Hikaru began. "She's going to publish an article telling the truth about what our story is."

"And not all of the lies the media already has released," Hikari added.

"Well," Godwin began. "Even if other officials of Security butt into things, I can vouch that your marks are decommissioned and you were framed. Ushio was suspended for a while for that stunt of his,"

"Is there a message you need me to tell Atlas-sama for you?" Mikage asked.

"No, I wasn't sure as to what was going in regards to the Fudos," Godwin began, reaching into his jacket. "So I was going to ask him to give you three this letter." he said, pulling out an envelope.

"A letter?" Hikaru asked. _**"From Yusei?!"**_

"Yes, from Yusei," Godwin responded, holding it out.

Hikaru grasped the envelope with her robotic hand, tearing it open as soon as she had it in both hands. Godwin then bowed and walked back upstairs.

"What does it say?" Genji asked, looking over her shoulder as she unfolded the paper.

Hikaru's eyes scanned the paper, soon widening at the words.

"You're not gonna like the sound of this..." Hikaru began.

_**Dear Genji, Hikaru and Hikari,**_

_**Normally Yusei writes you these letters, but at the moment he is incapable of doing so. This is Crow, Yusei's friend and ally. I don't know how else to say this, other than Yusei's health is deteriorating rapidly. We practically have to force-feed him, he's incapable of dressing himself and bathing himself, and he hasn't spoken properly in weeks. When ever he sleeps, he cries and cries and cries. Martha, Tenshi and I are at a dead end. We've consulted doctors, and they can only say he's going crazy, and when we consulted a psychic, she told he's missing two major things in his life; burdens and happiness. If you can make anything of this, respond as soon as possible. Please help us if you can... for the sake of Yusei.**_

_**Sincerely,**_

_**Crow.**_

"Martha?" Rally asked. "They're back at the orphanage?"

"This is not good, Genji, this is not good," Hikaru said, standing up and pacing. "What the hell has Yusei been doing?! What's happening to him?! This doesn't sound anything like him..."

"Nii-san..." Hikari said, staring down at the floor.

"Burdens and happiness..." Genji said with a hand on his chin. "Kami knows what any of this means. Maybe he needs to spend time in a hospital..."

"Genji, we are not locking Yusei in the clink!!" Hikaru said. "We may be crazy, but not that kind of crazy!!"

"Hikaru, you never know what could be wrong with him," Genji responded. "It could be something regarding his mentality!"

Hikaru then headed over to the desk, sitting down. She placed the letter down beside the laptop before she opened it up.

"Karu, what are you doing?" Genji asked.

"Research," Hikaru responded, opening up a few web pages. "I'm looking up anything I can get about Signers, twins, and our family."

"... Okay, Signers? Understandable. Twins? Not at all. Family? Are you high?!" Genji asked.

"Genj, I've got a hunch," Hikaru began. "That Yusei isn't the only one in the family involved with the Signers. Papa might have had something to do with it because he was a hakase, maybe our grandfather or an uncle or someone... and you know what happened when Yusei's birthmark hurt. It hurt my arm, too. The closer we were to one another, the worse it got. Remember? The first time I was fine after a while, then the second time when we were on the boat and closer to the city, and closer to Yusei, I could barely feel anything in my arm from the blinding pain and the numbness. And then when he was right there..." Hikaru gulped. "Kami above, I could barely breathe..."

"Twins have been known to have special bonds," Tenpei said. "Sometimes they don't even need to speak out loud to one another; they just need to think their thoughts and they can know. Lua and Luka aren't like that, but... twins are as close as close can be."

"And for the past few weeks, I've been feeling these, strong, dark emotions in the pit of my gut," Hikaru said, scrolling through an article. "Meaning that since Yusei is so far away from us, I'm only feeling a portion of what he's feeling. Kami knows how much it's affecting him in ways only he knows..."

"Can you find anything, Sissy-cha?" Hikari asked, standing up and heading over to her. Genji stood behind Hikaru already, looking over her shoulder.

"Nothing seems to be coming up for Signers..." Hikaru said. "Wait, wait, wait!! I found something!!" She then opened up a link, finding an old picture of the Crimson Dragon on what looked like stone. "_**'Thousands of years ago, lived five high and powerful beings, known at the Five Dragon Signers. They held within their bodies part of the power of the mighty Crimson Dragon. There are five parts of the dragon divided among them. The highest, and usually the leader, is the Signer with the dragon's head. The other four are the wings, the tail, the back claw and the front claw. After one Signer passes away, it's impossible to predict when and where its replacement will be born...'**_" Hikaru stared at the picture of the Crimson Dragon. "If there are only four Signers in the present day, how was the Crimson Dragon able to show itself in its completed form at the Fortune Cup?"

"Hikaru, should we even ask questions anymore?" Genji asked. "I mean, come on, really..."

"Does it say how the birthmarks appear?" Hikari asked.

"I remember Yanagi-Jii-chan was telling me about the tale when he was in my shop a few days ago," Genji said. "He said that from the looks of it, when a Signer is in a duel, its birthmark can appear, and in the presence of another Signer in a duel it can appear."

"Are those the only ways?" Hikari asked.

"Lil' Light, spit it out," Hikaru said, looking at the silver-haired girl. "What's eatin' ya?"

"... Akira is a Signer..."

_**"- Booger snots say what now?!"**_ Hikaru asked.

"First off, _**what the hell, Hikaru?!**_" Genji asked. "And secondly... Hikari, what makes you so sure?"

"I don't know how else to explain this," Hikari began, her index finger playing with the little curl of hair sticking up on Akira's head. "But when he was born, and I laid my eyes on him, for a split second I saw the outline of a dragon head on his arm. Yes, I know I wasn't coherent then, yes, I know I was in pain, yes, I know I barely even remember the delivery..." She felt her heartbeat skip as Akira lifted up his right hand, reaching out to his momma. She then brought down her finger, letting him grasp it. "But it's clear as day in my mind. I lay in bed at night and it comes back to my vision..."

"... Come to think of it, I did have this funny feeling when Dr. Toh said _'It's a boy'_..." Hikaru said.

"... Guess it's time I come clean, then," Genji said, standing back up straight, his leaning hand letting go of the desk chair.

"Huh?" Hikaru asked.

"Right before I first took Hikari to see Dr. Toh, I had this... I don't know, hallucination thing?" Genji said, leaning his head on the wall. Sea-green hair fell in front of his eyes. "This little guy who looked like a clown-"

"A clown?!" Tenpei asked.

"Yeah, a clown." Genji responded. "He had purple hair that stood up on the sides of his head, he was really short - maybe even shorter than Hikari, but that I doubt."

"I saw him in my dream that same day!!"

Genji froze, lifting his head back up.

"Jeager?"

"Jeager!!"

Genji remained silent for a moment. He then brought a hand to his face, brushing his hair away. His small, decommissioned yellow marker below his left eye was uncovered.

"Okay, something is definitely going on here..." Genji said. "Jeager told me that there was a choice that only I could make, but he was obviously messing with my head."

"What did he say?" Hikaru asked.

"What were his exact words?..." Genji rubbed the top of his head. "_**'Either you let Hikaru lose her arm'**_..." He bit his lip in thought. "_**'Or you can lose Yusei and Hikari forever'**_."

"... What did he say after that?" Hikaru asked.

"He said that Yusei caused your arm to hurt, and then Hikari caused the headache. And - I can remember this part clear as day - he said _**'The only way for things to be normal and for you to have a family, is if Hikaru loses her true arm, or if Yusei and Hikari are taken away, and never seen again by any of you'**_, and then after that he was only messing with my mind. So then I completely pushed him out..."

"... He asked me something else..." Tenpei said.

"What did he say?" Hikaru asked.

"... He asked me how much I love Hikari, and then he told me that she can't be around forever..."

Hikari froze, her body becoming rigid.

"What else did he say?..."

"That your future is set in stone, and that from birth you were destined to face great suffering, and that being in love can't change any of it..." Tenpei then brought his thumb to his mouth, biting the tip. "And then he said, since you were still pregnant at the time, _**'That baby in her belly is the proof of the burdens she bears'**_..."

_**"- Burdens!!"**_ Genji exclaimed. "It's starting to make sense..."

"How is there sense in any of this anymore?" Blitz asked. "As soon as things get worse, they get better, and then worse again, and now instead of getting better, wa la!! It's even more worse!!"

"Don't you see this?" Genji asked. "Hikaru and Hikari are Yusei's full-blooded siblings, while Tenshi and I are only half-blood!! Somehow, the events regarding the Signers concentrate with them!! Hikaru is Yusei's twin, and Hikari is his little sister..." He tried to keep his thoughts coherent with what he was saying, but he was realizing one thing after another quicker than he could process. "Did you see how happy Hikari made him? How remorseful he was around Hikaru? How remorseful he was without Hikari?"

"... Wait, I think I know what Genji-Nii-sama is getting at!!" Rally said. "Hikaru-chan is happiness, and Hikari-chan is burdens!!"

"I can't leave her for ten minutes without something going on, can I?"

Jack stood at the door, a black-haired woman behind him; Carly.

"Should I even ask what's going on now?"

* * *

"Martha, can Yusei-kun come out and play with us?"

"No, children..." Martha responded.

"Aw, how come?" they whined.

"Yusei is very sick," Martha said, leaning her hand down to place it atop of Yusei's head. Yusei sat right beside her, his arms clinging to her legs. "He has to stay indoors." Yusei stared at the children, his eyes holding a child-like life within them. He brought his right thumb to his mouth, chewing on the tip of his glove. "Maybe when he's feeling better he can play, okay?"

"Okay, Martha..."

Yusei turned his head, staring at the kids as they headed down the hallway in a flock. He gave a whine-like squeak when Martha stepped out of his arms, but then he made a soft sound like a purr when she lifted him up by under his arms. Immediately, he clung to her, almost cuddling into her neck.

"Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere," Martha said, starting down the hallway. "It's time for a bath, okay?"

"How's Nii-sama doing?" Tenshi asked, dressed in fresh white clothes, his hair damp.

"Okay," Martha said, stopping in the hallway. "He needs a bath, though."

"He does kinda stink a little..." Tenshi said.

"_'A little'_ would be an understatement," Crow said from the table. "C'mon Tens, sit down with me. I got us hot cocoa."

"Okay," Tenshi said as Martha headed back down the hallway. "Where'd you go today, Crow-kun?" he asked, sitting across from the orange-haired boy.

"Out and around," Crow responded, sliding a mug over to Tenshi. "Took my D-Wheel for a spin. Needed fresh air to clear my mind."

"You okay, Crow-kun?" Tenshi asked before taking a sip from his cocoa.

"I'm just worried for Yusei," Crow said. "At this point, I'm wondering if he can ever recover... even if your siblings do end up coming to help."

"They'll come and help soon, I just know that they will!!" Tenshi said with a smile. "Setsuna-Nii-san will come, I know he will!!"

"... Yusei," Crow began. "He can't fight Kiryu off forever..."

Silence passed between them for the longest time. The only noise made was the drinking of the hot cocoa, the pouring of more from the pot.

They heard a door open, and footsteps scurry away at a quick pace.

_**"Yusei!!"**_ Martha called, obviously following after him. _**"Where are you going?!"**_

The two boys blinked before they got up and headed down the hallway. Having a feeling as to where Yusei was, they headed down the left hallway and to the children's play room.

"Is Yusei in here?" Crow asked when he opened the door.

Tenshi started to laugh when they entered the room. He saw in the center of the room was large empty plant pot turned upside-down, and he could see behind it Yusei's hair poking up. A little boy of about four stood on the other side of it, peeking around the side. Yusei giggled, looking over the top before he ducked down again. He then peeked around the other side. The younger boy then reached and tugged on Yusei's towel, causing Yusei to squeal, jumping up and circling the support beam a few times before hiding behind a toy chest.

"Hah," Crow began. "Yuse, what're you doin'?" he called.

Yusei then peeked over the toy chest giggled for a second and then tucked down again. Crow smirked, lowering down onto his hands and knees. Almost mysteriously, he crawled over to where Yusei hid, peeking around one side of the toy chest. Yusei then peeked around the opposite side.

"There you are," Martha said, entering through the second door.

A pale hand reached out and tugged on Crow's vest, and then Yusei giggled, scurrying out from behind the toy chest and ducking behind Martha.

"What are you doing, Yusei?" Martha asked, looking down at him.

Yusei then poked his head around Martha's legs. Giggling, he lifted up a hand and took a hold of her dress, tugging on it a few times. Martha reached down, placing her hand atop of his head. A moment later, he squealed before he giggled, crawling away from her. His hands caught onto the edge of the towel wrapped around him, making him slip to the side. He got back up and tried to continue running around, but then his hands got caught again and he fell face-first into the floor.

"Yusei? Are you alright?" Martha asked, approaching him and kneeling down beside him.

Yusei picked his head up, blowing hair from his face. He then turned his head and giggled at Martha, bringing his hand to his mouth, chewing the tip of his thumb.

"Yusei just came in and started playing with us, Martha," said a little girl.

"Can he play with us? Pretty please?"

"Well," Martha began, gathering Yusei into her arms. She smiled when he tried to push his way out of her grasp, whining like a kitten about to receive shots as she stood up. "At least let me get him into his clothes first. He can't run around in only his underwear all day."

_**"Yaaaaaaaaaaaaay!!"**_

"Okay, easy, easy." Martha said, turning toward the door again. "I'll bring him back once he's ready."

* * *

"You sure wore yourself out, Yusei," Martha said as she tucked the boy into bed.

"Here yah go," Crow said, placing Charlie into Yusei's arms.

"Oyasumi, Nii-san." Tenshi said, giving his brother a hug as blue orbs closed. "Rest well. Maybe we can play more tomorrow."

A moment later, much to their own shock, when Yusei was conscious no longer, the hiccuping and crying resumed once more.

"Well," Crow sighed. "At least we're off to a start. His road to recovery is going to be challenging, that's for sure..."

"Yeah..." Tenshi said, climbing into his side of the bed in his white pajamas. He then rubbed his eyes and gave a yawn.

"Night, Tens." Crow said, hugging the younger boy before he laid down. "See yah in the mornin'."

"Night, Crow-kun. Night, Miss Martha." Tenshi said before closing tired eyes.

"Good night, Tenshi." Martha said, closing the door behind her. Crow stretched, laying down on his futon beside Yusei's side of the bed. He pulled the blankets up and over his body, his head resting against his thin pillow. He closed his eyes, and not a moment later snores rose up his throat and out of his nose and mouth.

_"Setsuna..."_ Tenshi whispered into the darkness before he fell asleep.

* * *

**_To Be Continued..._**

Gash: Whew... there's two days of writing without internet for ya!!

Aki: She worked practically non-stop on caffeine...

Gash: _Yeeeaaaaaah..._ ~.~ I haven't really been able to sleep at night so my writing input's been doubling.

Zeon: I praise the odd yet very believable state of mind Yusei has been in since the chapter of three.

Gash: ... Moo-moo cakes? ?____?

Zeon: I like how you're making Yusei come out to be.

Gash: Oh, okay!! ^____^ I myself think it's a little odd...

Zeon: I find it to be a rather incredible state of mental distress. And in smaller words, I think the way you're making him crazy is rather intriguing.

Gash: Why, Ze-Zo-kun, thank you very much!! **^________^**

Aki: Anyways, tell them what you have planned for the next chapter.

Gash: Okay!! Well, Carly's gonna end up slipping a big secret of Jack's to everyone else, and if I start things off right, Hikari and the others will be going to school for their first day, too!!

Zeon: Excellent.

Gash: So... I guess that pretty much wraps up this portion of the chapter everyone always looks forward too?

Aki: (Scoffs in disbelief) Why would they look forward to the authoress notes?

Gash: Cuz I'm lovable!! ^-^ And, the songs featured in the beginning were the ending of _What's Up People?!_ and _Sakura Kiss_!! I'll stick up urls of them ASAP, peeps!! Kay?

Zeon: And now for the best part.

Gash: (Randomly dressed like Haruhi Suzumiya) _**R-E-V-I-E-W!!! REVIEW FOR ME, PLEASE!!!**_ (Busts a move to _Hare Hare Yukai_)

Zeon: If you do not review, I shall torture you by playing _It's A Small World After All_ over and over again in every single language know to man, and several known to the kitsune race - such as me.


	8. Interview

"Pancakes?"

Hikaru nodded, flipping a pancake in the shape of a C.

"It isn't every day our little sister starts school!" Hikaru said. "So, I'm making everyone a customized pancake with the letter of their first name."

"Who's is that?" Genji asked, pointing at the C-shaped one.

"Carly-san's." Hikaru responded. "And I couldn't decide if you'd want G or S, so I made yours a double-letter."

"Wow," Genji said, his eyes laid on the GS pancake. "Karu, I'm impressed."

_**"RALLY, YOU GET BACK HERE!!!"**_

_**"Jack-chan's too slow, Jack-chan's too slow!!"**_ Rally sang, zipping by the kitchen doorway.

**_"FOR THE LAST TIME, I TOLD YOU THAT YOU ARE NOT GOING TO SCHOOL DRESSED LIKE A GIRL!!!"_** Jack shouted, running past the doorway with a blazer in his hand.

_**"Rally will dress the way that Rally wants to dress!!"**_

"Here we go again," Blitz sighed, leaning on his hand.

"Whaddaya mean, Blitzu-kun?" Hikaru asked.

"Jack always made a big deal about Rally growing up to be a real man," Blitz responded. "Even though Rally could never get comfortable wearing pants or shorts ten times too big for him, Jack always said he'd grow up to be - I don't know, a transvestite or something?"

_**"HELP, HELP!!! I NEED AN ADULT, I NEED AN ADULT!!!"**_

_**"Shut up!! I'm getting you out of this fucking skirt!!"**_

_**"It's a skort, thank you very much Jack-chan!!"**_

_**"Does it look like I give a fuck?! Go put on some pants!!"**_

_**"But the pants are too big on me!!"**_

_**"Then go put on shorts!!"**_

_**"They're too big, too!!"**_

_**"THEN GET OUT OF THIS FUCKING DRESS!!!"**_

_**"It's called a blouse, thank you very much Jack-chan!!"**_

_**"What am I going to do with you?!"**_

_**"I hope it's not what I think."**_

_**"Get your mind out of the gutter!! Go put on the boy's uniform!!"**_

_**"But it makes me look like I'm a girl wearing guy's clothes!!"**_

_**"Now, Rally!! Go put it on right now!!"**_

_**"I don't wanna!!"**_

_**"Rally, Lua and Luka are going to be here any minute!! Either you go to school naked, or you go dressed properly!!"**_

_**"Okay, okay!! I'll go get dressed..."**_

_**"That's more like it."**_

**Yusei: "Interview."**

"Sorry for all of the noise here, Carly," Jack said. "Things can get a little hectic sometimes."

"Sometimes?" Genji asked.

"That's okay," Carly said, pushing her glasses up her nose. "I like cats, anyway..."

"Mao-Mao's a little territorial..." Hikaru said, looking over her shoulder at Carly. Upon the black-haired woman's head was Mao-Mao, sitting proudly with her chest sticking out.

"She took over every single bathroom," Nerve said.

"... Uh, well... that's... interesting..." Carly said.

"I'm dressed now, Jack! Are you happy?"

Jack face-planted onto the table.

_**"I told you to put on the boy's uniform!!"**_ he screeched when he brought his head back up.

"No, you said to dress properly!!" Rally said, smoothing out the light yellow skort covering above his knees. "So, I am dressed!!"

"Calm down, Jack," Blitz said, placing his hand on the blonde's shoulder. "At least it's a gender-neutral color."

"You know, I don't know why everyone says that yellow is gender-neutral. I don't know many guys who like yellow..." Genji said.

"Akira likes it!!"

"Akira's a baby, Rally..."

"If anyone gives ya a hard time about wearin' what you wanna wear," Hikaru began as she turned around. "You just tell your onee-chan, okay?"

"Okay!!" Rally said, running up to her and throwing his arms around her. "I will, Onee-chan!!"

"You know, Rally-chan, ten bucks says that Lua-chan is pulling the same stunt as you." Tenpei said as he entered the kitchen, bearing his Ariel Academy uniform proudly.

Tenpei's uniform consisted of a light yellow collared shirt with a white tie, an orange vest, and he held an orange blazer over one arm. His shorts were orange, and they were held up by a pair of white suspenders.

"Although, you do make a handsome woman," Tenpei added. "This is a prestigious school, so you may get bullied by the students, as well as scorned by the teachers."

Rally's uniform consisted of a knee-length skort and a light yellow tank-top with an orange vest. His blazer had some yellow ruffles coming out of the cufflings.

"But I just love this outfit!!" Rally said, twirling around the room. "It's perfect for the summer!! I feel so free without pants!!"

"This kid's going to grow up to be either a streaker or a transvestite..." Blitz sighed.

"... Rally, go put on that boy's uniform right this instant!!" Jack said.

"I don't wanna!!" Rally pouted, crossing his arms.

"What's going on now?" Hikari asked, walking in with Akira in her arms.

"Jack's giving Rally a hard time about his school clothes," Nerve said.

"Kari, don't you think you should change your hair ribbons?" Genji asked. "Blue doesn't really contrast with those bright colors so greatly..."

"I don't wanna change them!" Hikari whined, reaching one of her hands up to touch her ribbon. "Nii-san gave these to me!"

Hikaru turned around and locked her eyes onto Hikari. Smirking, she threw her arms open.

_"Kawaii momo wo mitsukechatta! Nadatte hoshigacchau!"_ she sung, scooping Hikari with Akira into her arms and spinning around with them. _"I'm not gonna share your cuteness, no I'm not!! You're all miiiiiiiiine!!"_

"Karu, the pancakes could burn!!" Genji said.

"Huh?" Hikaru placed Hikari back down onto her feet. "I can't have that happen!! Not in this diva's kitchen!!" she said, pounding her fist over the lettering on her apron reading _Kiss Da Diva_ before she hurried over to the stove again, picking up her spatula and flipping the T-shaped pancake. "Saved by Karu-chan!!" she exclaimed, punching her metal fist up into the air.

"You know Kari-chan, since we're both dressed like this, we look like sisters!!" Rally said.

"Rally, go put on that boy's uniform this instant!!" Jack said.

"I'm not going to!!" Rally said, his hands on his hips. "Have you considered I want to show off my girlish figure?! I knew it, you think I'm fat!!"

"It's too late to save him..." Jack said, smacking his head onto the table.

"Uh..." Mao-Mao jumped down onto Carly's lap, so the black-haired girl began to pet her. "Well, look on the bright side..."

"What bright side?" Jack asked, his voice muffled by table.

"Well, there's - hm..." Carly placed her other hand on her chin. "Maybe - wait, no... uh..." She then snapped her fingers. "At least he's as comfortable with his sexuality as you are!!" she said, patting Jack's back.

"Psh," Blitz scoffed through his lips. "Jack? Comfortable with his sexuality? What on Kami's green earth makes you think that?"

"What? You mean you didn't know that he's g-" Mikage cut herself off when she caught Jack turning his head to her, glaring, growling. "... Uh... that he's going to duel in a tournament supporting gay rights?"

"I thought he said he was gay," Carly said.

**_"Carly!!"_** Jack snapped.

Blitz bit down onto the rim of his coffee mug, already starting to feel the hot liquid drip down from his nostrils.

"Excusey moi?" Genji asked.

"E-erm..." Carly twitched. "- Wait, no no!! I didn't mean it like that!! What I mean is-"

"Save it," Jack said, hiding his face on the table again. "You can't lie, even if you had to write an article about it."

"W-well..." Carly pushed her glasses up her nose. "That's just the kind of girl I am."

Blitz then finally spit out his coffee, covering his mouth and nose with a napkin.

"You're gay, Jack?" Blitz asked, blowing his nose into the napkin, crumpling it up like a used tissue.

"If you laugh in front of my face, expect the newspapers for the next few weeks to read _**'Atlas Jack: Murderer Of Satellite-Inhabitant. Who Could Blame Him, Really? This Mother Fucker Was So Damn Annoying And It's A Wonder As To How Fudo Hikaru Could Date Him. Oh, Yeah. Have We Mentioned He's Her Girlfriend? Because That's Kind Of Important. Yeah. He's Her Girlfriend. I'd Want To Shoot Myself If I Were Her, Too'**_... got it?"

"It's almost cute when you're embarressed, Jack-chan." Rally said, his arms wrapped around the blonde's neck. He smiled, snuggling into Jack's shoulder.

"Just shoot me now..."

* * *

"... And don't forget to mind your manners,"

"Setsuna-Nii-san, there's no need to worrysu,"

Genji sighed at "Setsuna", zippering Hikari's school bag closed.

"Also," Genji began. "Remember, don't forget to give your apple to the sensei. It shows respect."

"How does an apple show respect?" Rally asked.

"I don't know, I read it online."

"You shouldn't trust everything you read online," Tenpei said. "Tons of people post jokes there, especially on April Fool's Day."

"Just give the sensei your Kami damned apple!!"

"Setsuna, calm down, okay?" Hikaru asked. "Don't make them nervous or anxious on their first day. They need to concentrate."

"Things will be a little empty without you guys and Akira here," Nerve said.

"What do you care? We start work at Genji's shop today," Blitz said.

"That's today? I thought it was tomorrow!"

"Iie. Today,"

"Well, just remember," Hikaru began, kneeling down in front of Tenpei to fix his tie. "Use your manners, be polite, don't give others a hard time, chew with your mouth closed, and..." She tucked in part of Tenpei's shirt. "Most importantly, be yourselves!! Don't be shy!!" she said before she stood back up.

"And if we receive a good report from your sensei," Genji began. "We might just get ya a treat."

"A treat!!" Rally exclaimed. "What is it, what is it?!"

"It's a surprise, Rally," Genji laughed. "I can't ruin that part for you, kid."

_Knock knock knock._

"Oh!! Lua-chan and Luka-chan are here!!" Tenpei said, opening the door.

"Ohayou, Ten-chan!" Luka greeted, bowing.

"Ohayou!" Lua echoed.

"Oh my, Rally-chan?" Luka asked, blinking when she saw the older boy. "Is that you? What are you wearing?..."

"Whaddaya think?" Rally asked, twirling around three times.

"I think..." Luka began, a hand on her chin.

"I should have dressed the way you did, Rally-chan!!" Lua whined. "That way Luka and I would look like sisters!! You and Hikari-chan look like siblings the way you are!!"

"Rally's getting the boy's uniform," Jack said. "Isn't that right, Rally?"

"Nope!!"

"Rally-chan, you look dashing!!" Luka said with a bright, smiling face. "I don't know anyone else - aside from Lua - who is as comfortable as you are to express femininity!!"

"Jack should know!! He's gay!!" Rally said.

**_"- NANIIIIIIIIII?!?!"_** Lua fell over.

_"Mikage..."_ Jack growled.

"Yes, Atlas-sama?!" she asked.

"Go in the kitchen and hide every single knife we have... things could get messy if I'm around them..."

_"Awwwwwww,"_ Lua whined as he bent over on his feet. "Now there go my hopes and dreams of Jack-sama marrying Luka so we can be related!!"

"Lua," Luka began, yanking her twin's ear. "Why would I want to marry Jack? I'd prefer someone my own age!!" She let Lua go, who rubbed his ear, whining. "Who knows?" she began, hand on her chin. "Maybe I'll meet someone in school!"

_**"Wait!! Don't forget these!!"**_

"Huh?" Hikari blinked as Mikage rushed in with two bags.

"I made you all bento boxes for lunch," Mikage said, holding out a small sports bag. "And you almost forgot Akira-chan's diaper bag."

"Oh, Mina-chan," Hikari began, taking them from Mikage's hands. "Arigatou, na no dasu!!"

"Nani?..." Mikage placed a finger on the side of her head. "_**'Mina-chan'**_?" she asked.

"You don't mind if I call you that?" Hikari asked.

"... Huh... I suppose not." Mikage responded.

"Okaysu!"

"We'd better go now," Luka said. "We can't be late for our first day! That'd give off a bad impression!"

"Right," Hikari said. "And I've got to have time to drop Akira off at the preschool before we find our class."

"What's the class number again?" Tenpei asked.

"2-D," Lua said. "The junior high building."

_"Off to school, off to school!!"_ Rally sang as they headed out the door in a line.

_**"Sayonara na no dasu!!"**_ Hikari called when their feet hit the pavement.

**_"Be careful!!"_** Genji called from the door, his hands cupped over his mouth to amplify his words. _**"Look both ways crossing the street, remember the apples for the sensei, don't get into a fight, be safe, and most important of all,"**_ He held his head up higher. _**"Prove to the media that us Satellite-inhabitants aren't all just slums!!"**_

_**"We'll do our best!!"**_ Hikari and Rally called.

"And you say you don't worry?" Hikaru asked, her hand messing the hair atop of Genji's hair.

"Now then," Genji began, as if he hadn't heard Hikaru in the first place. He took a hold of the doorknob and closed the door. "We have to figure out what we're going to do about Yusei."

Hikaru sighed, bringing her hands to her back to untie the knot holding her apron on.

"I thought we could have a little time after they left..." She removed her apron from around her neck. "I suppose not, though."

"Hikaru, that letter from Crow-san..." Genji began. "If we don't do something, Yusei could end up dead. We can't lose him like our mommas and papa..."

"I refuse to lose him, Genji!" Hikaru said. "For a while we thought we'd lost Hikari, but we didn't... that was sheer luck. If that bullet had gotten her in the neck rather than the cheek..." She gulped. "Then she would have died... but we can't think like that!!"

"The sooner we get to thinking as to what we can do for Yusei the better," Genji said as they headed for the living room.

"How are we supposed to help him? He's all the way back in Satellite..."

Genji stopped, smiling.

"I've already asked for Saiga to come over in an hour."

"You did what?" Hikaru asked, turning around. "Genji, we just finished paying him back for all that he did for us last time!"

"We have more than enough money now, we can pay him up front. He can name his price," Genji said. "Anything is worth saving Yusei."

"You're talking complete bullshit right through your Kami damned teeth," Hikaru said. "I think you could give less of a fuck about Yusei!! All you want is Tenshi!!"

"All you want is Yusei; and Hikari, too!!" Genji snapped. "Face it Hikaru, you live in the fucking past!! We had the shittiest lives before, and now you still keep on nagging and nagging and nagging when you think we take advantage of something!!"

"You pushed Yusei into leaving!! You told him he was doing a shitty job as a brother and then he told us so in the letter from Lua and Luka!!"

"Well is it my Kami damned fault he's such an uptight little bastard?! He's worse than you on your fuckin' period!!"

"You take that back right the fuck now!!"

_**"Wah, wah, wah!! I'm menstruating Hikaru and I want my precious little Twinny-chan who's slowly teetering on the edge between insanity and sanity!! I won't share Hikari at all cuz she's too fucking cute!! I'm in a relationship with Blitz that is slowly going nowhere!!"**_

_**"I'm Setsuna, but don't call me that!! Call me 'Genji'!! I'll rip off your testicles if you do but then I really won't!! I want my momma!! I want my wittle iddy-biddy baby brother Tenshi whom I know nothing about!! I own a shop that sells shit people probably don't even need!! I'm going to go cry home to my momma!! Oh, wait, that's right!! I don't have one so I'll cry into my pillow and get a new piercing in the morning!!"**_

_**"Wah, wah, wah!! Look at me, I'm Hikaru and my baby sister looks like our dead momma!! I'm a twin with a robotic arm!!"**_

"Cut it out!!" Nerve exclaimed, pushing the nose-to-nose brother and sister pair away from each other, standing between them. "What the hell is getting into you two?! You're acting like children, and believe me, I know how children act!!"

"I second that!!" Blitz said, stepping between the two as well.

"Brothers and sisters are not supposed to fight!!" Nerve said. "When you do it does nothing for either side!! You're both losers in the end!! If you haven't noticed, all you're spouting out is nonsense!! Just don't fight!! What if the last words you hear from one another are _'I hate you'_ or _'I wish you were dead'_ or something much worse?!"

Genji sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"Hikaru, just forget my silly childishness... there is just too much Kami damned bull shit happening to us all at once..." He rolled his head back and stared at the ceiling. "I mean, why us? Why did we have to lose our parents, our memories, our lives?... It's true; the reality is Yusei being a Signer has a lot to do with it, but..." He closed his eyes. "When he told me about Tenshi, it felt like finally there was an answer to the completion in life I needed... finally... and I was happy..."

"Guess this was all a matter of blowing off steam..." Hikaru said, running her human hand through her hair. "I can't really say I blame you for being so angry... I shouldn't have bashed Tenshi... or your momma... or your piercings..."

"Yeah, you shouldn't have..." Genji responded.

"Now," Nerve grasped each of their collars, and forced them together, nearly bonking their heads together. "Hug and make up like good siblings!!"

"Well, Nervu-chan, you certainly are returning to your old self..." Hikaru said.

"Less talking, more hugging!!"

To make the younger boy happy, as well as for their own benefits, the brother and sister then embraced.

"Don't you worry, Karu... we'll have the full family home soon..." Genji whispered to his sister.

* * *

"Crow-kun, d'you think they got the letter yet?" Tenshi asked.

"I can't say, Tens," Crow responded.

"I wonder if Setsuna's reading it right now..." Tenshi said, staring out the window.

Crow sat at the edge of the bed, his hand continually petting down the back of the raven-haired boy's head. He didn't know why he just didn't stop. Yusei never calmed down in his sleep, no matter how much physical comfort you gave him.

"You really miss him, don't you, Tens?" Crow asked, looking across the bed to Tenshi. He blinked in concern when Tenshi covered his mouth with his hands, beginning to cough.

"I haven't seen Setsuna ever since I was-" Tenshi coughed into his hands again. "Since-"

"Tenshi, Tenshi!!" Crow exclaimed, running around the bed and kneeling down to the younger boy. "Are you okay?!" he asked, grasping the boy's shoulders.

Tenshi coughed a few more times before bringing his head up weakly.

"Y-yeah, I'm okay..." he responded. "I think I need to go clear out my system, though..."

"How do you do that?" Crow asked.

"Hot air..." Tenshi said. "Hot water... I'll go take a bath..."

"Okay," Crow said, standing back up, but keeping a hand on the younger boy's shoulder. "You do that. If you need anything, just call, okay?"

"I will," Tenshi responded, heading toward the door.

Crow walked back around the bed, sitting down beside Yusei again as he watched his friend's little brother walk out the door. Absent-mindedly, he began to pet Yusei's hair again.

_Come to think of it..._ Crow thought. _I wonder what their family is doing right now..._

* * *

_"Aw, kawaaaaaaii!!"_

_"Look at him!!"_

_"Such a sweet little baby!!"_

_"Did you ever see anything so precious?"_

_"Isn't he a darling?"_

_"Aw, he looks just like his mother!!"_

_"He is so beautiful!!"_

"Well," Rally began, a broad smile on his face with his hands on his hips. "Imoto-chan's certainly drawing some positive attention with Akira here at school. Barely here for three minutes, and they're already cooing over him..."

"Who could blame them, really?" Luka asked. "He's as cute as a button."

"Or a butt," Lua joked, only to receive an elbow into the gut from his twin.

_Ding dong ding dong... dong ding dong ding..._

"Well, there's the morning bell..." Luka said.

"Guess we'd better get to our classroom, huh?" Rally asked.

"Yeah," Lua responded. "If we can pry Kari-chan and Ten-chan from the claws of the crowd, that is."

**_"Hai, arigatou na no da; saynora!"_**

Tenpei sighed roughly as him and Hikari met back up with the twins and Rally.

"I never thought they'd let us leave," Tenpei groaned.

"Think you guys can stand the day?" Luka asked.

"Yeah, we can." Tenpei said.

"Yeah," Hikari said. "We'd better hurry along; we've got to bring Akira to the nursery building first before getting to our class."

"Oh yeah, that's right!" Lua said. "To the nursery!!"

* * *

_**"Okay, class, okay! Settle down, settle down!"**_

The children in the junior high school building, room 3-D, then all faded their chit-chatter away, turning their attention to the front of the room where their teacher, Sensei Kito, stood.

"Ohayou," Sensei Kito said.

**_"Ohayou, Sensei Kito!!"_** the children chorused.

"Now then," the teacher began, walking around her desk and standing in front of it. "As you all know, there will be five new children joining our class today. Now, this is their first day in school, so I'd like you all to be extra nice to them, alright?"

_**"Hai, Sensei Kito!!"**_

Sensei Kito smiled, turning and walking to the door. She turned the knob and pushed it open.

"Children! You can come in now," she called.

**_"Okay!!"_**

And so, in a line, they five walked in. Lua went first, followed by Luka, then Rally and Tenpei, and Hikari brought up the back.

"Please welcome them into the class warmly," Sensei Kito said to her class.

"Kami above, you're Luka!! From the Fortune Cup!!" exclaimed one of the girls.

"And you're-you're-you're-" another girl stuttered, pointing at Hikari.

"Hikari from Dos Brite Lites!!"

"That's us," Luka said.

"Hai." Hikari added.

**_"Luka-chan, I'm so jealous!! Hikari-chan is your friend!!"_**

**_"You're my idol, Hikari-chaaaaaaaan!!"_**

**_"Luka-chan, you're so great!!"_**

"Settle down, settle down," the teacher said calmly. "Questions can come as soon as they've all introduced themselves."

"But we already know who they are!!"

"Only Luka-chan and Hikari-chan," Sensei Kito said. "You don't know the boys!"

"Sensei is right..."

"Now then," She turned to the five standing in front of the room. "Would you introduce yourselves, please?"

"I'm Lua!" Lua said. "I'm Luka's twin brother!"

"Watashi wa Dawson Rally desu!" the red-head said. "I'm Hikari-chan's adoptive onii-chan!"

"And I'm Hayano Tenpei," Tenpei began, pushing his glasses up his nose. "Rally and the Fudos live with my okaa-sama and I."

"Kari-chan and him are close friends, too," Lua said, giving Tenpei a teasing look.

"Shut up, Lua!!" the brunette exclaimed.

"Setsuna-Nii-san said to behave ourselves today!" Rally said, turning to them with his hands on his hips. "Both of you apologize!"

"Fine..." they sighed.

"Wow, you're a cutie," said one of the male students, standing up in the front row. "How would you like to go out with me?"

"Uh..." Rally lifted up his hands. "No offense, but I don't swing that way."

"Rally-chan, you're a lesbian?!" asked another boy.

"Can guys be lesbians?" Rally asked, rubbing the back of his head.

_**"Nani?!"**_

"Uh, well..." Hikari sweat-dropped. "Unless you thought Rally said _'onee-chan'_ before, Rally is a..."

"I'm a boy, not a girl."

**_"What the hell?!"_**

"Hey! I don't like pants!" Rally said, crossing his arms behind his head.

"Besides," Luka began, her hands on her hips. "Rally should be allowed to express himself in any way he wishes. Dressing in clothes he likes is just him expressing himself."

"Yeah," Rally said, playing with a curl of his hair. "'Sides, I don't see what the big deal is... or why Nii-san cares so much about me looking like a girl."

"Well," Sensei Kito began. "Why don't we start class? Take any free seats there are." So as the five walked down a few rows to some free seats near the back, Sensei Kito walked to the dry-erase board and picked up a marker. "You came here during a good time. It's still early on in the year, so we haven't started too many major things."

"Have you ever been to school before?" asked the white-haired girl Hikari sat down beside.

"No, but I feel lucky to be here." Hikari responded with a smile.

"My name's Rin," the girl said with a smile. "I have a twin sister who is in this class, too, but she's home sick. Her name's Ran."

"Ran and Rin?" Hikari asked. "It's nice to meet you."

"How would you guys like to sit with me and my friends at lunch?"

"Sounds good to me," Lua said.

"Yeah," Tenpei said.

"That sounds lovely." Luka said.

"We'd love to." Hikari said.

"Great," Rin smiled.

* * *

_"Waaaaaaaaah... the house is too empty without Lil' Light..."_ Hikaru whined, hugging her knees on the couch.

"Why don't you and Blitz go out then?" Nerve asked.

_"It's Kari's D-Wheel..."_ Hikaru whined, tracing her finger on the fabric.

"Orange juice?"

Hikaru sat up, looking over at the door. There Mikage stood with a pitcher of orange juice and upside-down empty glasses on a tray.

"Mina-chan, don't you think you're working a little too hard?" Hikaru asked.

"U-uh... serving Atlas-sama is my job..." Mikage said.

"Unless you haven't noticed, we aren't all Jack." Genji said.

_"Nii-saaaaaaaaaaaaaaan... I'm booooooooooooooooooored..."_

Genji smacked his forehead, dragging his hand down his face as he gave out a long, rough sigh.

_"I'm bored bored bored boooooooooooored!! When will school be over?"_

Rubbing his temples with one hand, Genji dipped his hand into his pocket, pulling out a chocolate-flavored lollipop.

_"Who the hell invented school to begin with? Who's evil idea was it? It's keeping me and Lil' Light apaaaaaaaaaaaart!!"_

Genji remained calm as he unwrapped the solidified sugar on a stick, drowning out his sister's whines as much as possible.

_"Genj, can we go pick her up?"_

"Answer a question for me," Genji began. "What is Ryuzaki's title as a detective?"

"L-"

With that, the lollipop was shoved into Hikaru's mouth.

"Uh..." Carly rubbed the side of her head. "Are things usually this-"

"Screwed up? Yes," Genji responded. "We're a dysfunctional 'hello'."

"I'm oddly starting to feel better..." Hikaru said, sitting back up.

"Uh, um... well then..." Carly pushed her glasses up her nose. "You wouldn't mind if I finally started my interview with you, would you?"

"Interview?" Hikaru asked.

"Yes..." Carly sweat-dropped, rubbing the side of her head. "That's the reason why Jack asked me over here... yesterday..."

"Oh, you're right! I'm sorry," Hikaru bowed.

"It's no problem, really..." Carly said, sitting herself down beside Hikaru. "You don't mind if I use my tape recorder, do you?"

"Be my guest," Hikaru smiled.

"Okay," Carly fumbled with a few buttons on a small, black machine the size of an iPod nano. "Kami, I just got you fixed!" she said, smacking the machine with her fist a few times. It made a few short beeping sounds. "Malfunctioning?! That tears it!! - Huh?"

Carly blinked as Genji lightly yanked the tape recorder out of her hands. His thumb pressed down on a blue button while his index finger then held down a red one. After a moment, the little light bulb flashed on to green, blinking.

"There. That means its recording," Genji said as he handed it back to the reporter. "I have to make those things work all of the time before I sell them at my shop."

"Arigatou, Genji-san," Carly said as she turned back to Hikaru. "Okay, so, what is it you would like to accomplish in this interview, Miss Hikaru?"

"You don't haf'ta be so formal," Hikaru said, waving a hand. "Plain 'Hikaru' will work fine."

"Okay, then... Hikaru..." Carly cleared her throat. "Okay, well, for starters, let me ask you your opinion regarding the rumors having spread about you and your sister? How many of them are true?"

"Well..." Hikaru exhaled, staring up at the ceiling. "Regarding Yusei being our brother, that is, as a matter of fact, true. But to be more specific, he's my younger twin brother."

"Oh, he is?" Carly asked. "If that is true, then did you all originate from the Satellite?"

"Since people will most likely find this out anyways," Hikaru began, her free hand twirling a lock of her hair from her bangs. "Yes, we did. But you know what? We were born in the Tops,"

"You were?"

"Yeah," Hikaru continued to play with her hair. "Our father was a hakase. My half-brother looked into who our parents were, saying as we knew diddly-squat about them."

"And what about the supposed romance between you and Atlas Jack? Is that true?" Carly asked.

"Guess you're just asking me this for the interview's sake," Hikaru said, placing her hand in her lap. "As a matter of fact, no, I am not. I do have a boyfriend, yes, but is it Atlas Jack? No. It's Fernsehen Blitzkrieg."

"That's an odd name..."

"His parents were German," Hikaru said. "We call him 'Blitz' for short."

"... Wait, this is Blitz right here, right?" Carly asked, pointing to the bluenette.

"Yep! That's my Blitzu-chan!" Hikaru said. "C'mon, sit down next to me!"

"Uh... okay," Blitz slowly walked over to Hikaru, sitting beside her.

"Since people might end up asking this, what does your name mean exactly?" Carly asked.

"Well, 'blitzkrieg' means 'lightning war', 'blitz' for short just means 'lightning'." Blitz responded. "My surname is one of the German words for 'television'."

"... Interesting..." Carly said. "So... Hikaru," she began, looking at the raven-haired girl. "Where would people have gotten the idea that you're romantically involved with Atlas Jack?"

"Because we live together."

"You live together?"

"Yep. Guess you're just asking this for the sake of the article... you already know we live together!"

"Why do you live together?"

"Yusei asked Jack to look after us for him,"

"So you've heard from Yusei recently?"

"Not since he disappeared... he left a letter for us the day he disappeared, and one for Jack, too. Jack finally came to us six weeks after he got it, and told us Yusei left it for him."

"Where do you think Yusei is now?"

Hikaru leaned back on the couch, rolling her head back to stare at the ceiling.

"Where would my Twinny-chan be?..." she asked to more herself than to Carly. "To tell you the truth, I have no idea... I don't even understand why he left in the first place."

"Well, what do you think should be done regarding the rumors?" Carly asked.

"You're probably wanna censor part of this for the article..." Hikaru said. "I think those writers who don't take their time to write the truth should take their pencils and shove them up their asses, because there is no way I could ever respect someone like that! Not only to someone who writes smack about me, but about anyone, really! I mean, did people look at Yusei as totally evil when he became the New Duel King? Of course not! Did people look down at Hikari just because of her marks? No sirree! Here's what I believe: in order to move forward, you gotta keep your past with you, yes, but you can't let it just screw up your life so much! Yusei didn't let his mark get in his way, and just look at him now! Momma and Papa would be proud of him..." She pulled her lollipop out of her mouth and stared at it for a second. "Really, what's so bad about being a satellite? Yeah, things are filthy and food is scarcer, but just being in this city makes me appreciate the little things so much. Like food, for one. Where we lived in the Satellite, we were lucky because we had a peach tree. It died about three years ago, but it was one of our main sources of food. We'd sell them for extra cash, keep enough for ourselves to eat, and then scrounge up whatever money we could get from odd jobs and Genji's job to pay for rice or meat. We were some of the lucky ones. Hikari constantly ended up getting sick, though... she's a fragile little thing."

"You know, things would be a lot better if people could see the world through your eyes," Carly said. "I'm surprised you're not angry with Security."

"I was for a while when Genji had been framed for a crime he didn't commit," Hikaru said, placing her lollipop back into her mouth. "But then a week after that, when Hikari and I were on our way back from the store, we were mugged. The son of a bitch tried to steal our silver necklaces," She chuckled, picking up her half-heart pendant and looking at it. "I fended him off while Kari went to go get an officer. The dude was arrested, and thank Kami we never saw him again. Genji wouldn't let us leave the house for two weeks after it happened." She chuckled again. "Truthfully, if it weren't for Security, we'd have been goners."

"That certainly sets _'irony'_ onto a whole new level..." Carly said.

"What I find ironic is people only thinking Security is only evil or good," Hikaru then began to curl a lock of her hair around her finger again. "Really, it does keep crime down, yes, but sometimes crime needs to be done for humans to be humans. In the Satellite, you can get heavily fined or arrested for selling things at too high of a price; even jewelry has to be cheap. It's how Hikari and I got our _'Big Sis'_ and _'Lil' Sis'_ pendants, and how Genji got his dog tag and silver studs, not to mention the gold studs he later on had to pawn off so I could get my automatic-transmitting arm." She bit down on her lollipop, sucking and chewing on the sweet treat at the same time. "You have to look at Security from a third person's point of view, you know what I mean?" she asked, chewing on the end of the lollipop stick. "It isn't just a one-way deal."

* * *

"Where did Hikari and Tenpei go? It's lunch time," Lua said as Luka spread out a picnic blanket under a tree on the grass.

"They went to go pick up Akira-chan," Luka said. "We have a two-hour class break. It's good time to spend with their son."

"They have a son?" Rin asked.

"Yeah," Rally said. "They're not really sure who the real father is, though... where he came from is somewhat unexplainable."

"He's really cute, though," Luka said. "He's an adorable little baby. He caught a lot of attention this morning before the bell."

"So he was the cause of the circling group of cooing girls?" Rin asked.

"That was Akira," Lua said. "So, what does your sister Ran look like, anyways?"

"Well... we look identical, save our hair and eyes." Rin said. "She has black hair and white eyes, I have white hair and black eyes."

"Is she your onee-chan or your imoto?" Rally asked.

"Tons of people think I'm the older, but really, she is." Rin said. "Somehow, 'Ran' has a more younger feel to it than 'Rin'. And it must be our looks, too. I'm a bit more practical than my onee-chan."

_"We're back!"_

"Hello, Light-chan!" Rally waved as the two approached them, Tenpei carrying the diaper bag and Hikari carrying Akira in his seat.

"Sorry to take so long," Hikari said as she and Tenpei slipped their shoes off before sitting on the blanket.

"Akira needed a quick diaper change." Tenpei said.

"I got the bento boxes Mina-chan made for us, too!" Hikari said, setting down the small sports bag.

"Mina-chan?" Lua asked.

"That's Mikage's new nickname," Tenpei said. "Don't you remember anything?"

"It happened just this morning! And we learned, like, tons of things already!" Lua said. "Like, well, I never knew that Japan took down Russia in the Russo-Japanese war!"

"That happened because Russia wasn't industrialized yet," Luka said as Hikari began to set out the bento boxes.

"We Japanese kick ass!!" Rally exclaimed, punching his fist into the air.

"Gomen nasai," Rin said, looking around with a hand over her eyes as a visor from the sun. "Mine and Ran's friends might be a little late. I thought I told them under the apple tree!"

"Apple tree?" Hikari asked, looking up. "Oh! There are apples growing on it!"

"Do you like apples, Hikari-chan?" Rin asked.

"Mm-hm!" Hikari nodded. "I love them, especially on a hot day!"

"Then leave it to me!" Rin said, standing up. Without her shoes, she reached up to grasp a branch, pulling herself up. "Ran-Nee-chan and I do this all of the time! Our parents own fruit orchards just outside of the city!"

The soles of the white-haired girl's feet scraped against the bark a bit, but she remained unharmed without a single scrape.

"Careful, Rin-chan! Don't hurt yourself!" Hikari said.

"Daijobu, daijobu!" Rin sung as she crawled out onto a branch. "It's early autumn, so apples are in season!" she said as she pulled one of the red fruits from a branch above her. "The higher you go on a branch, the tastier and sweeter they taste!"

"Really?" Rally asked.

"Hai!" Rin responded, tossing down six apples, having them land on the blanket with ease. "I'm acrobatic, so this is no trouble for me at all!"

"Rin-chan, you're so nice!" Hikari said.

_**"Bomb's away!!"**_

Lua, Tenpei and Rally held their hands out, nearly diving to catch the nine falling apples before they hit the ground or hit the girls and Akira. A moment later, Rin jumped down, flipping in the air once before landing on her feet.

_**"Ta da!"**_ Rin threw her arms in the air, an apple held in her left hand.

"Wow!!" Rally said, clapping his hands. "Rin-chan's amazing!!"

"Arigatou," Rin said, bowing like an actress before she settled back down onto the blanket.

"Mina-chan sure made us a lot of food," Tenpei said as they were taking the covers off of the bento boxes.

"She must have been given a tip about Lua's bottomless pit of a stomach..." Luka sweat-dropped.

"Hey!! I'm a growing boy!!" Lua said as his chopsticks picked up a chicken nugget.

"Rin-chan, if you'd like you can have some of our lunch." Hikari said. "We have plenty."

"Oh?" Rin asked, having already taken a bite out of an onigiri from her small bento box. "That's very nice of you. My mama didn't have much time to make me lunch this morning; Ran was up most of the night keeping a lot of her attention."

"Wow! Mina-chan didn't put in any vegetables!" Rally said, looking over the food a few more times. "She's so nice desu!" he said, picking up a steamed pork bun.

"Hey, Kari-chan," Lua began as he wiped his mouth with his napkin. "Is Mina-chan married or have kids?"

"I don't think so," Hikari responded. "She does seem motherly, though. Besides, if she had a family, she wouldn't house keep for Jack and live with him."

"That's a shame," Lua said. "Because if she did, then maybe she could have adopted you and she could be your mother."

"I can't really replace my momma, even though I never knew her," Hikari said, placing the rubber nipple of Akira's bottle into the baby's mouth. "Besides, Setsuna-Nii-san is older than her. Little awkward..."

"I don't really think Mina-chan would be up for it anyways, Lua," Tenpei said. "She acts sort of strange when she's around Hikari."

"Strange?" Lua asked. "How come?"

"The..." Luka trailed off. "Remember the festival?"

"Oh, right! Duh!" Lua smacked his forehead.

_**"Rin-chaaaaaaaaaan!!"**_

"Oh! There they are!" Rin said, standing up. She then waved her arms in the air. **_"Over heeeeeeeeeeeeere!!"_**

Three kids approached them; two girls and a boy. One of the girls had dark pink hair with bright green eyes, the other had sea-foam green hair with gold eyes, and the boy had pale sky blue hair with a barely noticeable light silver-colored eyes.

"Sorry we're late," the pinkette said. "Somebody took forever in the bathroom!" she said, looking over at the boy.

"I drank six cups of coffee this morning, two bottles of water, and a lemonade; I felt like Niagara Falls..." the boy said.

"Anyways," Rin began. "These are my friends. She's Aiko," she said, pointing to the pinkette. "She's Nao, and he's Hiraku."

"Hiraku?" Hikari asked.

"Hai," the bluenette boy responded. "You heard of me before or something?"

"I-iie," Hikari said. "It's just... that was my papa's name as well..."

"Oh? Is that so?" he asked.

"Isn't that cool, Hira-chan?" Nao asked, lightly elbowing the boy in the stomach. "You've got the same name as the Dos Brite Lites' father!"

"I suppose," Hiraku responded. "But it may also be a coincidence."

"Take your head out of your ass for once, Ra-Raku!" Aiko said.

"Why don't we all sit down and have lunch now?" Rin asked. "Come on; shoes off on the blanket."

"We know the drill, Rin-chan," Nao said.

"So, Ran-chan's still sick today?" Aiko asked as she settled on Rin's right side, Nao on her left.

"Hai," Rin responded. "Nasty cold she's caught..."

"Poor itty-bitty Ran-chan all alone at home, stuck in beddy-weddy," Nao cooed, her arms around Rin, rubbing her cheek against the white-haired girl's cheek. "Leaving Rin-chan all alone like this... this is sibling cruelty!"

"Not nearly as cruel as you're being to Rin-chan," Aiko said, pushing Nao off of the girl.

"So, Miss Hikari," Hiraku began. "Out of curiousity, do you by any chance know as to why there is Security surrounding the school gates?"

"Nani?" Hikari blinked. "Security?"

"Yeah," Hiraku responded. "Some baka-head shouted out to the entire school that it might be that they're gonna arrest you."

"C'mon, put that thought down!" Lua said, waving a hand. "Why would anyone wanna arrest Kari-chan?"

"Because she was framed for the Tops crimes!" Luka said. "And Yusei's been missing for over a month; questioning the family of a missing person is always a must-do!"

"I'd better go look into this," Hikari said, standing up.

"Nani? Hikari-"

"Tenpei-kun, hold your son while I'm gone!"

Tenpei had almost no time to respond as Hikari ran off towards the gate, her blue hair ribbons fluttering behind her.

"H-hai, Hikari-chama..." Tenpei trailed off.

"I'll follow Imoto-chan!" Rally said, racing off after her.

Luka sighed, running her hand down her face gently.

"When will this all calm down?..."

"Ay! Easy, Akira!" Tenpei said, pulling the bottle away from the baby and laying him on his shoulder. "Don't eat so fast! Don't worry; it isn't going to go anywhere..."

Akira burped, a small bit of white gunk falling from his mouth and landing on Hiraku's vest.

"Oh my! Hiraku-chan! Gomen nasai!" Tenpei bowed.

"Daijobu," Hiraku responded casually, wiping the spot with a napkin. "I'm used to it. My mother birthed to triplets three months back, and my brother and I have been helping to take care of them. As a result, I also smell like baby powder."

"Hira-chan's got it rougher than most," Nao said, leaning on the boy's shoulder. "He's got two baby brothers and a baby sister to help take care of, his father's never home, and he also has to attend honors classes for his big brain. Lots of homework, lots of home chores."

"Wow," Lua said.

"Backsu!"

"Oh, Hikari-chan, Rally-chan," Luka smiled. "So, did you find out?"

"Yup," Rally nodded. "The nice officer-man said that Jack requested no reporters or interviewers could come in and bother us during school, so there's nothing to worry about. They're only making sure the right to privacy is ensured."

"Kami knows what the tabloids could pick up for rumors just by looking at us at school," Luka said. "Rally-chan alone could make the headliner."

"And I thought you were comfortable with me expressing myself," Rally said with crossed arms and a pouting face.

"I am; it's just unusual to see a boy wearing a... um... you know..."

"At least I'm not wearing panties!" Rally said.

"What can you be wearing with that thing? Definitely not boxers," Tenpei said, continuing to let Akira suckle from his bottle.

"Tighty-whiteys," Rally responded. "I do have some pride as a male, you know!"

"Oh, so you're the cross-dresser from Tutella's class," Nao said. "She was telling me about the new girly boy that joined her class when we were in the bathroom."

"That Tutella; always gossiping..." Rin sighed.

"Anyways, come on, let's dig in!" Lua said.

_**"Itadakimasu!"**_

* * *

Crow covered his mouth as he gave a yawn, opening his green-silver eyes in a tired gaze.

_Kiryu..._ he thought as he felt a small shock go through his body.

"Crow-kun?"

"Hyuh?" Crow picked his head up, glancing at the door. Tenshi stood there with wet hair and bright red cheeks from the warmth of his bath. A glowing look of concern was written in his bright blue eyes. "Yeah, Tens?"

"Daijobu? You seem a little out of it..." Tenshi almost whispered.

"Hai," Crow said, cracking one of his grins. "Guess I'm a little tired..."

"Crow-kun, why don't you lie down for a while?" Tenshi asked. "Nii-san should be waking up soon, so then I'll just bring him out with me to the kitchen when he does."

"Well, I suppose..." Crow said, not even bothering to stand to get to his futon. He just slipped off of the bed, landing on the floor on his knees. He crawled underneath his blankets, almost sighing with relief when his head met the softness of his pillow.

Tenshi crawled up onto the bed on the opposite side, sitting beside Yusei and hugging his knees. With a smile, he began to pet his brother's hair in the same fashion as Crow had done. As Yusei sniffled a tad loudly, his smile turned into a small frown.

"Nii-sama..."

_Kiryu..._ Crow thought once more as his eyes slipped closed.

* * *

**_To Be Continued..._**

Damn, that chapter was a _loooooooon_g one...

Zeon: You can say that again.

Gash: Damn, that chapter was a _loooooooong_ one...

Zeon: You can say tha-

Aki: (Has smacked her hand over Zeon's mouth) Don't. (Lets him go)

Zeon: It sure was.

Gash: I hope this chapter's better than the last... ~.~ I've been going through tid-bits of writer's block. End of the school year stuff... I start final exams tomorrow.

Aki: Joyous.

Gash: Anywho, I really don't have much else to say. Review, please!!

Zeon: If you don't review, you will regret it. (Glares, eyes unblinking) I only **look** cute and cuddly.


	9. Hermano Mío

"... and that should do it."

Genji stared at the screen on the wall, seeing the room reflecting in it.

"Saiga-kun, are you sure you've pinpointed his D-Wheel?" Genji asked.

"Positive," Saiga responded, pushing up the brim of his hat. "Just hope you can take what you might see."

"What do you mean?" Hikaru asked.

"If Yusei's been losing weight and sleep, he's definitely going to look a lot different from how you remember." Saiga responded. "I've helped tons of people in my life, and when I reunite some people together, what shocks them the most is how different they can look. It's been seven and a half weeks now..." He blew a breath up his face. "Kami couldn't give us all of the preparation we'd need to not be shocked."

"He's our brother," Hikaru said. "It shouldn't matter how he looks."

"Should I go get the tissues?" Mikage asked.

_**"Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeey!! We're hooooooooooooooooooome!!"**_

_"Shit pickles!"_ Genji cursed beneath his breath. _"I thought we had more time!"_

_**"Onee-chaaaaaaaaaaan!!"**_

_**"Sissy-chaaaaaaaaaaa!!"**_

_**"Puppy-chan and Lil' Light are home!!"**_ Hikaru exclaimed, running down the hallway faster than Genji could say "_chan_ is for girls and little kids!!'"

"Hiyo, Onee-chan!!" Rally said as he and Hikari were scooped around into Hikaru's arms.

"I missed you all so much!!" Hikaru said. "I swear I thought I was gonna cry a few times..."

_**"Karu!! Are the children home from school already?!"**_ Genji called.

**_"Hai!!"_** Hikaru called back. "Come on, come into the living room and tell me everything! Were the kids nice? Does learning really make your brain hurt? What about the teacher; was she as nice as the principal promised? Oh, and before Setsuna asks, did you give her your apples?"

"Hai," Hikari said as they followed Hikaru back into the living room.

"And you know what? We've already made some friends, too!" Rally said. "There's Rin-chan and Ran-chan-"

"But Ran-chan was home sick today," Luka said.

"- and Aiko-chan, Nao-chan, and Hiraku-chan!" Rally said.

"Hiraku has the same name as Papa!" Hikari said.

"Wow," Hikaru said.

"Ah, little Miss Hikari," Saiga said, turning around. "I haven't seen you in a while."

"Nani? Saiga-kun?" she asked. "What are you doing here? I haven't seen you in a while, either..."

"Genji asked me over," Saiga said, pointing his thumb over his shoulder to the green-haired boy. "And might I add," he began, removing his hat by the brim, laying it across his chest. "You look smashing for a girl who's just had a baby." he joked with a wink as he gave her a polite bow.

The result was Hikari covering her mouth with her hand, giggling.

"Saiga-kun, you're always so kind!" Hikari giggled.

"Hikari," Genji began, his arms remaining uncrossed. "There's a seriousness we need to put up right now."

"Huh?"

**Yusei: "Hermano Mío."**

"Given the current circumstances," Genji began as Saiga was typing at the telephone keypad, a set of headphones over his ears. "We have to gain communication with Yusei soon. If we don't, there may be nothing we can do."

"You think Yusei-Nii-san's getting worse?" Rally asked.

"Unfortunately, without a doubt," Hikaru said. "Him and I share a rather strong twins' bond. If I still had my real arm, then I'd still feel the pain he felt when his mark glows."

"I'm picking something up," Saiga said, unplugging his headphones. Immediately, the sounds of fizzing came from the hands-free speakers. A distinct _**beep beep beep, beep beep beep**_ was heard every few seconds as well.

"We can communicate with him through his D-Wheel?" Hikari asked.

"Hai," Genji responded. "Saiga is helping us find that communication."

"I'm gaining a visual..." Saiga said, and surely enough, it looked like there was something moving around on most of the screen through the fizz.

**_"... n... ou... ar... me?..."_**

With a sound that could only be described as a sucking sound, the screen flushed into a clear picture. Crow pulled his hand away from the visual's eye.

_**"Can you hear me?"**_ Crow asked.

"Crow, I presume?" Genji asked, turning to the screen. "This is Genji. We've received your letter as of yesterday,"

_**"Oh, Kami!! Thank Kami!!"**_ Crow exclaimed, laying the back of his hand on his head in relief. _**"Oy gevalt, I'm so ferklempt that I could plotz!!"**_

"Crow," Jack said.

_**"Huh?"**_ Crow brought his hand down, blinking when he saw Jack on the screen. _**"Haha, Jack!..."**_ Then he made a half-serious, half-kidding face. _**"But... how do I know you're the real Jack?"**_

"Your surname is Kurosu," Jack said.

**_"_Anyone_ could know that!"_**

"You've got a tattoo of a white rose with a black dragon on your back,"

**_"_Anyone**_** could have seen **this sexy beast** shirtless!"**_

Jack sighed as Crow posed.

"You're gay, you love to collect shiny things, you were in Team Satisfaction with Yusei, I and Kiryu, and you suffer from random bounts of stupidity."

_**"That last part is not a proven-fact,"**_ Crow said, pointing an accusing finger. _**"But, yeah; you're Jack. I believe yah,"**_

"Listen Crow," Genji began. "We need to see Yusei. We need to visually see that he is okay, that he's breathing, that... we just need to see him!"

_**"Ffffuuuuuu..."**_ Crow blew air out of his mouth. _**"I'll do what I can to convince Martha to let him outside. There's got to be Dark Signers crawling around everywhere..."**_

"Dark Signers?" Jack asked.

_**"I'll explain later,"**_ Crow said as he reached an arm off screen. _**"Tenshi! Sit down here while I go see Martha! Explain to your family who the Dark Signers are!"**_

_**"- Whoaah!!"**_ Tenshi exclaimed, falling over the side of the D-Wheel's seat as Crow ran off.

"Tenshi?!" Genji asked.

_**"Nani?"**_ Tenshi asked, sitting himself up with a hand on his head. _**"Setsuna-Nii-san?! Is that you?!"**_

"Hai," Genji responded. "Are you okay?!"

_**"Hai,"**_ Tenshi responded. _**"... Setsuna, you look different than I remember. What happened to your hair?"**_

"What about his hair?" Rally asked.

_**"The way I remember it,"**_ Tenshi ran his hands down his hair and head. _**"It was jet-black with one little sprig of the green it is now!"**_

"He started dying it," Hikaru said.

_**"Hikaru-Nee-chan?"**_ Tenshi asked. _**"How many people are there?"**_

"Hikari's here, too!" Hikaru said, pulling Hikari into view. "And there's Akira, too!" she said, pointing to the baby in Hikari's arms. "Tenshi-Otouto, you're an uncle!"

"Tenshi," Jack began. "What was Crow talking about before? Who are the Dark Signers?"

_**"Well..."**_ Tenshi rubbed the back of his head with one hand. _**"Yusei-Nii-san told me about a vision he saw of the Nazca Lines during the Fortune Cup - before he started to deteriorate... he told me these lines are being used by this group called the Dark Signers so they can destroy the Satellite."**_

"Destory the Satellite?" Jack asked.

**_"Hai,"_** Tenshi responded. _**"Right now, we're on the run from one called Kiryu-"**_

"Hold your horses right there!!" Jack exclaimed. "... Repeat the name... who was it?..."

_**"Kyosuke Kiryu,"**_ Tenshi said. _**"Nii-san said he's an old friend."**_

"Kiryu's been dead for years," Jack said. "How can he be a Dark Signer?"

_**"But that's just it,"**_ Tenshi responded. _**"There's two ways to become a Dark Signer; either you're bit by a spider that takes control over you, or you are brought back from the dead with a strong sense of hatred and revenge."**_

"... So Kiryu really was killed after all..." Jack said.

* * *

Tenshi looked over his shoulder, brushing hair from his face as he saw Crow and Martha at the door. He saw Yusei hiding behind Martha's dress, and his gaze softened.

"Yusei, come on!" Crow tried coaxing. "Come on, Yuse! Come on!"

"Stop that, Crow-kun!" Tenshi exclaimed. "Nii-sama isn't a dog!"

"He sure is acting like one," Crow said, scratching the side of his head.

_**"If he just called Yusei a bitch, then kick him in the nads for me, Tenshi!!"**_ Genji exclaimed.

"I am not calling him a bitch!!" Crow said. "I'm trying to get him to come to the phone!!"

"Try the chocolate again!!" Tenshi said.

"Why didn't I think of that?" Crow asked.

_**"Because you're an idiot,"**_ Jack said.

_**"Am not!!"**_ Crow said, slipping the chocolate bar out of his arm band. _"Yuuuuuuuseeeeeeeiiiii... look what I've gooooooooot..."_

Crow smiled, taking a few backwards steps towards the red D-Wheel when he saw Yusei poke his head around Martha's legs.

"You want it?"

Yusei made squeak-like noises, reaching a hand out toward the bar.

"Nah ah ah," Crow wagged a finger. "You gotta come get it."

Yusei brought his thumb to his mouth again, chewing on his glove. With wide eyes, he looked up at Martha.

"Go on, Yusei. It's alright," Martha said.

Like a young cub, Yusei crawled out on his hands and knees towards Crow. Crow watched him carefully, seeing how shaky Yusei was on his own.

"Uh-oh," Tenshi then said.

"What do you mean _uh-oh?_" Crow asked, looking over his shoulder at Tenshi.

"Don't turn your eyes away!!" Tenshi said.

"This can't be good," Crow said, looking back forwards. A second later, a flash of black hit his eyes and he was knocked over, his head missing Yusei's D-Wheel by centimeters. _**"Yusei!!"**_ he exclaimed when the raven-haired boy sat on his stomach casually, nibbling at the chocolate bar like how a hamster eats a seed. _**"Would you get off of me?! This is awkward; very awkward!!"**_

Tenshi giggled, holding his hands over his mouth.

"Nii-san got you good, Crow-kun!!"

_**"What did he do?"**_ Genji asked.

_**"He tackled me for candy!!"**_ Crow said.

_**"I thought even you remembered how dangerous it is to let Yusei be in the same room as chocolate,"**_ Jack said. _**"He loves it so much it makes his brain go haywire!!"**_

_**"Jack, this is not funny!!"**_ Crow exclaimed.

"I guess Nii-san still has some strength left in him after all!" Tenshi pipped.

_**"Would you get him off of me?!"**_ Crow exclaimed.

"I can't. He'd crush me." Tenshi responded.

_"Marthaaaaaaaa..."_ Crow then whined.

"I've got him, I've got him..." Martha said, bending down and picking Yusei up.

_**"Tenshi... is Yusei okay?"**_ Genji asked.

Tenshi's light blue eyes looked to the side, catching a glimpse of Yusei as he chewed on the last bit of chocolate.

"Define _okay_..."

_**"Can we see him?"**_ Hikaru asked.

"Would that be a good idea?" Crow asked, rubbing his aching stomach as he stood back up.

_**"Baka! He's our brother!"**_ Genji said.

_**"Hermano mío!"**_ Hikaru said.

_**"So, Crow,"**_ Genji began. **_"Put him on screen."_**

"Fine, fine," Crow said, stepping aside so Martha could get by. "Martha?" he said as Tenshi got off of the D-Wheel seat.

"I've got him," Martha said, leaning down and seating Yusei on the D-Wheel seat. She nearly toppled over when Yusei flung at her, his arms tight around her waist. He whined, shaking like a leaf. "Yusei, it's okay. I'm not going anywhere..." she said, placing her hand atop of his head.

_**"Yusei?"**_ Hikaru asked, abruptly pushing Jack, Genji and the others away so she could be seen better on screen. _**"Twinny-chan, can you hear me?"**_ she asked, coming closer.

Lifting his head up again, Yusei looked towards the screen.

_**"Yusei, listen to me,"**_ Hikaru began. _**"Can you understand me, first?"**_

_"... Mm..."_ Yusei struggled with finding his voice. _"... Kkkkuuu..."_

_**"Hikaru."**_ Hikaru said, placing her hands on her chest. _**"Hi-ka-ru."**_

_"... Hi... Hi... Hi... ka..."_ he sounded out softly, like a baby. _"... Hi... ka... ru."_

_**"That's right, Yusei!"**_ Hikaru said. _**"Can you remember me? I'm your onee-chan."**_

_"O... onee... onee... chan?"_

**_"Hai! I'm Hikaru, your onee-chan!"_** Hikaru said. _**"Yusei..."**_

_"Yusei?"_ he asked, pointing to his own face.

"Nii-san's acting like a baby..." Tenshi whispered into Crow's ear.

"I know..." the orange-haired boy responded.

_**"Listen to me carefully, Yusei,"**_ Hikaru began, making Yusei's child-like blue eyes look back up towards the screen. _**"I know there are a lot of bad things happening right now, but if you listen to me and if I succeed, I can help you."**_ She then softened her gaze. _**"Do you understand me? Can you listen to me?"**_

Yusei brought his thumb to his mouth again, chewing on the tip of his glove. He then nodded.

_**"Okay."**_ Hikaru then took in a deep breath and let it out. _**"Put your hands over your heart."**_ she said, placing her hands in the center of her chest. His hands shaking, Yusei let go of Martha and placed his hands in the center of his chest as well. _**"Now, close your eyes."**_

_**"What good is any of this going to do?"**_ Jack asked.

_**"Just trust me! Okay Jack?"**_ Hikaru asked as Yusei slipped his eyes closed.

_"Trust,"_ Yusei repeated.

_**"Now,"**_ Hikaru closed her eyes. **_"Listen to my voice..."_**

Hikaru took in a deep breath through her nose and let it out through her mouth.

Hikaru: _**Twirling, whirling, round we go.  
Twirling high, and twirling low.  
Twirling round we go...**_

_**Twirling, whirling, round we go.  
Twirling fast, and twirling slow.  
Twirling round we go...**_

_**Twirling, whirling, round we go.  
Twirling high, and twirling low.  
See the colors skip and flow...**_

_**See the ribbons as they blow...  
Twirling round we go...**_

Then, almost in unison, the two Fudo twins drew in a sharp, pain-filled breath.

_**"Yusei!!"**_ Crow exclaimed as they both fell backwards.

_**"Hikaru!!"**_ Genji exclaimed.

_**"Onii-san!!"**_ Tenshi exclaimed.

**_"Sissy-cha!!"_** Hikari exclaimed.

* * *

"Someone call the hospital!!" Genji said as he lifted Hikaru up into his lap.

_**"Iie! Don't!"**_ Hikaru said, breathing roughly. _**"I know what I'm doing!"**_

"Sissy-cha... you mean you're..." Hikari sniffled. "You're putting yourself through this pain?"

_"Don't worry, Lil' Light..."_ Hikaru said, reaching her left hand out. She laid it onto Hikari's scarred cheek. _"Everything will be all better when I wake up..."_ she whispered as her eyes closed.

_"Sissy-cha..."_ Hikari took Hikaru's hand, gripping it in her hands tightly. Hikaru let out a breath, and her entire body went limp. **_"SISSY-CHAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!"_**

* * *

_**Yusei stayed curled up in a ball, his hands tangled into his hair. He sniffled, cracking one eye open. He then jerked his head down lower, sniffling.**_

_**"Twinny-chan,"**_

_**Yusei gasped, his head jerking up again. He gasped when, in front of him in the foggy darkess, he saw Hikaru.**_

_**"Hikaru!..."**_

_**"Twinny-chan..." Hikaru knelt down, wiping Yusei's cheeks with a small cloth. "You've been crying for too long..."**_

_**"Hikaru..." Yusei wrapped his arms around her as she did the same. She stroked the back of his head, petting his hair. "You're here..."**_

_**"We are twins, after all..." Hikaru smiled. "We're as close as close can be. It's where I got this idea of communicating..."**_

_**"Hikaru..." Yusei sniffled again, pulling back to look into her identical eyes. "I'm trapped here... I don't know how to take back control of my mind and body... I think it's because of Kiryu..."**_

_**"No," Hikaru laid her human hand on his cheek. "You are stuck here because of yourself."**_

_**"I... you mean, I'm doing this?..." Yusei asked.**_

_**"Yusei, I can't answer as to why, what and how it is happening, but," Hikaru stared into his eyes with defiance. "I swear on our parents' graves, that I will come to you soon!"**_

_**Yusei sniffled, burying his head into her neck and shoulder. Hikaru wrapped her arms back around him, rubbing his back.**_

_Hikaru: Hermano mío, no llorar...  
Hermano mío, seca tus ojos...  
Descanse la cabeza cerca de mi corazón,  
Nunca a una parte, hermano mío..._

_**Yusei let his head rest on her shoulder, letting all of his crying out softly. He would not allow himself to let go of her.**_

_Hikaru: Un poco, cuando usted juega,  
No cuenta lo que dicen...  
Que los ojos brillan y brillo,  
Nunca una lágrima, hermano mío..._

_**A small smile tugged the corners of Yusei's lips up, and he gave out a small sigh as Hikaru sang.**_

_Hikaru: De la cabeza a los dedos de los pies,  
(Hermano mío...)  
Usted es tan dulce, dios sabe...  
(Hermano mío...)  
Eres tan valioso para mí,  
Cute como puede ser, hermano mío..._

_Hermano mío, hermano mío..._

_**Yusei gasped when they were drifting apart.**_

_**"Hikaru!..." He reached out to her again, almost desperately. "Don't leave yet! Don't leave!..."**_

_**"With the powers of Happiness..." Hikaru began, her bangs hiding her eyes. "I set my baby brother free!!"**_

_**When a strange light of an unfound source filled the dark fog, Yusei held his birthmarked arm tightly. A screech, like a dragon's, came past his lips.**_

* * *

_**"Come on, come on!!"**_ Jack exclaimed, hitting the top of the video-phone screen. _**"Work, damn it!! Work!!"**_ He then winced, grabbing his arm with its glowing birthmark. "Damn it... we can't get the connection back!!"

"Somebody else might have tapped into the line," Saiga said.

"This is not good, this is not good!!" Hikari exclaimed, rocking a crying Akira in her arms. Surely enough, the head of the Crimson Dragon's birthmark was glowing on his right arm. "Sissy-cha won't wake up, and Akira can't stop cryingsu!! What are we going to do?!"

"I don't know..." Luka said, holding her birthmarked arm as well.

"I wonder if..." Jack began.

"Huh?" Genji looked up at him from where he knelt. "What?"

"... Aki..."

As a small groan came up Hikaru's throat, Genji looked back down at her with a gasp.

_"Karu... **Karu!!**"_ He exclaimed, shaking her lightly. _**"Hikaru, wake up!!"**_

_"Mmmeeehhhhmm... uuuuuhh..."_ Hikaru's eyes opened slowly. _"Did it work?..."_

"Did what work?" Genji blinked.

_"Nii-san..."_

"Huh?" Genji looked over at Hikari. He gasped again when he saw her eyes were blank and glazed over. "Kari? Are you okay?"

_"I see something..."_ Hikari whispered, her voice almost emotionless. She still held Akira in her arms, seeming to be unfazed by his crying. _"Yusei is waking up in the garage..."_

"You can actually see him?!" Jack asked.

_"He's confused..."_ Hikari continued. _"He doesn't remember what's happened. Crow and Tenshi are telling him what's happened ever since he and Tenshi were found..."_ Her head lowered slightly. _"He thought it had all been a bad dream."_

_"It worked..."_ Hikaru smiled weakly. _"Damn, I feel drained..._" Her smile wouldn't wipe away. _"I could go for a... little snooze..."_

"Hikaru!" Genji gasped when the raven-haired girl's eyes closed again and she fell limp.

_"Don't worry,"_ Hikari said. _"She's only asleep."_ Her blank eyes then closed and she fell forwards.

"Hikari!" Tenpei caught her by the shoulders, picking up Akira from her arms before he fell. Carefully, he then laid Hikari on the floor. "Hikari, are you okay?"

"That was amazing..."

"Huh?" Luka looked up at Jack, the both of them still gripping their arms.

"Burdens and Happiness..." Jack began. "They must serve some sort of a role in the tale of the Crimson Dragon."

Morosely, Tenpei looked down at Hikari's face as she slumbered.

_I sure hope she doesn't really have to leave forever..._

As a beeping came from the hand-held phone on the wall beside the screen, Mikage picked it up right away.

"Moshi moshi," she said. Pause. "Yes, I'll put him right on." She pressed a button on the keypad before hanging up the phone. "Atlas-sama, Izayoi-sama is on the line. She wants to talk to you," she said before pushing a button on the screen, making Aki appear on it.

**_"Jack,"_** Aki began. _**"Is your birthmark?..."**_

* * *

_**To Be Continued...**_

_**Whew!!**_ The chapter's finally done...

Aki: It took you longer than normal to finish this one...

Gash: Yeah, well... I've been writing down a lot for _I'd Come For You_, and I'm going through tid-bits of writer's block again...

Zeon: Izayoi-chan has appeared now.

Gash: Yup! It was only for a second, though... but she'll be in more come next chapter!!

Aki: A lot will happen next chapter, too, if you can't tell.

Gash: Yeah!! Well, I'll leave it here for now!! Review please!!

Zeon: And if you don't review, you'll never review any story ever again. I'll see to it.

Aki: Death threat?

Zeon: (Innocently) Now _what_ gave you **that** idea?

(Gashy note!! The second song Hikaru sang in this chapter were the lyrics to _Baby Mine_ from _**Dumbo**_ changed to Spanish, and rather than the lyrics saying "baby mine" they said "brother mine". So, I titled it _Brother Mine_, and for Spanish, it is _Hermano Mío_. The translated lyrics are below for those who care.)

Brother mine, don't you cry...  
Brother mine, dry your eyes...  
Rest your head close to my heart,  
Never to part, brother of mine...

Little one, when you play,  
Don't you mind what they say...  
Let those eyes sparkle and shine,  
Never a tear, brother of mine...

From your head to your toes,  
(Brother mine...)  
You're so sweet, goodness knows...  
(Brother mine...)  
You are so precious to me,  
Cute as can be, brother of mine...

Brother mine, brother mine...


	10. 10,000 Footsteps, Part One

_"Yusei... Yusei!..."_

Groaning, as his vision cleared up, Yusei looked up at Martha, confused.

"Nani?... Martha?..." He turned his head to the left, his eyes catching Crow in his sight. "Crow?... What's going on?... Where am I?..."

"You're at the orphanage, Yusei..." Crow said. "Can you remember anything?"

Yusei slowly blinked his eyes, rolling over his thoughts as good as he could.

"I was having a funny dream..." he began. "I was back in the Tops... with Momma, and Papa... and Genji, and Hikaru... and Tenshi, and Hikari..." Weakly, he adjusted his shoulders. "We were little kids again... and every time I was alone, I'd cry and look for one of them..." As Martha helped him sit up on her lap, he found enough strength to lift one of his hands and rub his eyes. "I just saw Hikaru again... but it wasn't the same dream..."

"Yusei, you weren't dreaming the entire time." Crow said gently. "You've been going around acting somewhat like a little kid again. We could never leave you alone because you wouldn't allow that..."

"... I think, Hikaru..." he began. "... I think she saved me..."

**Yusei: "10,000 Footsteps In Search Of Twinny-chan, Part One."**

_**"I'll be over in about an hour,"**_

"Right, Aki. I'll see you then." Jack shut off the screen, ending the call with Aki. "She'll be here soon." he said, turning back around.

"That's good," Genji said, covering Hikaru with a green blanket. "Does Aki know of anything that could help us?"

"Hopefully," Jack said. "She is a Signer, after all."

"I guess that means all five are finally present," Luka said. "Akira with the dragon head, Jack with the wings, Aki with the foreclaw, I with the hindclaw, and Yusei with the tail."

"The fifth Signer had to have been present for the Fortune Cup, though," Lua said. "Remember? The dragon's head somehow still showed up, even without Akira-chan present."

"Didn't you hear Hikari yesterday, Lua? She said she saw his birthmark glowing when he came out." Tenpei said. "And it is possible it all happened during the delivery..."

"What time was Akira born?" Luka asked.

"I don't know... roughly four o'clock, maybe?" Tenpei said.

"Let's see... Jack and Yusei's duel ended around..." Lua squeezed his chin in thought. "Roughly the same time?"

"That's right," Jack said. "Because when I woke up in the hospital afterwards, Mikage told me I'd been out for about two hours. It was a little past six at that time..."

"And what a day that was," Genji sighed. "A ton more bull shit loaded itself all over the big pile of bull shit we'd already had."

"You just love shit metaphors, don't you?" Blitz asked.

* * *

"Here we are, Izayoi-sama."

Aki stepped out of the limousine, staring up at the top of Jack's building. She whipped out her cell phone from her pocket, speed-dialing Jack's number.

**_"Moshi moshi,"_** came Jack's voice.

"It's Aki," she spoke. "I'm here. I'll be up shortly."

_**"Okay,"**_

Aki then ended the call, pocketing her phone before lifting up her left arm. She stared at her duel disk for a moment before drawing the top card; Black Rose Dragon.

_Yusei..._

* * *

_**"Just what the hell do you think you're doing?"**_

_**Aki glared as Yusei kept his back turned on her. His hands were fisted, but not tightly. His head was lowered, hair shadowing his face.**_

_**"Where are you going?" She saw his neck turn the slightest. "You know, you can't just run away!"**_

_**"Who would care if I did?" he asked.**_

_**"Your family, for one!" She had obviously touched a nerve, saying as she saw his body stiffen. "I over-heard those two twins talking when I passed you by in the hallway earlier. I'm not as dumb as you think I am! You think that I, of all people, don't understand this?!"**_

_**He turned around briskly, keeping his head down. His lifted right hand caught her flying right fist before it could hit his cheek.**_

_**"Aki..."**_

_**She glared, pulling her arm away from him abruptly.**_

_**"Don't you touch me," she spat, turning away from him, taking a few steps away. "We have nothing to say to each other."**_

_**"Then why are you trying to stop me?"**_

_**The rose-haired woman gasped, her head jerking back up as she clutched her birthmarked arm.**_

_**"There is obviously something you want from me," Yusei sounded near emotionless. He wouldn't look up. "You just don't want to say it. You're afraid..."**_

_**"That's so stupid! I am not afraid of anything!"**_

_**"Even being alone?"**_

_**"Damn you, Yusei!!" she exclaimed, turning back around with rage in her eyes. "I-" She blinked, gasping lightly.**_

_**He had picked up his head. He stared at her with intense blue eyes, a single tear lining near his yellow marker.**_

_**"Gomen nasai, Aki..." He lifted his left hand, placing it on her cheek. "I have to leave. There's no turning back now..."**_

_**"You're being an idiot," she spat with another glare.**_

_**"Who in this world is not an idiot?" he retorted. "You're afraid of losing me..." He said it more like it were an observation rather than a question.**_

_**"I told you I am not afraid of anything!"**_

_**"Then why fight it?"**_

_**Aki glared again, smacking his hand away. She then turned away, not wanting him to see her eyes tearing. She didn't even want to know she was about to cry.**_

_**"Aki..." When she reluctantly turned around, he pulled her into a hug. One of his arms was wrapped just above her waist, the other around below he shoulders, resting her head on his own broad, muscled shoulder. "I won't be gone forever..." he whispered. "I promise... I promise I will come back. I know there is pain that you are already handling... but I'll make up for it times two when I return."**_

_**Aki shook lightly, words caught in her throat. She almost didn't feel real being in the stoic boy's arms, able to hear the pulse of his body the way her head laid.**_

_**"Aki, if you can hold on like I do... please, won't you help me?"**_

_**It was impossible to stop the tears falling from her eyes as she stared at the helicopter rising up into the air. The wind it produced further ensued her eyes to water. She couldn't even bring herself to lift up her arm and wave when she saw him giving a very small wave from the window. She could only look up, feeling her tears streaming from her face to her neck as he looked at her remorsefully.**_

_**"I care about you..." she had told him.**_

_**"I care about you, too... but my heart has a mind of its own."**_

_**He had to turn his head away from her when she tried to kiss him.**_

_**"I can't..." he told her. "I don't know the extent of my feelings for you yet. If I don't love you the way you love me..." He dropped his head down. "I'd just be using you..."**_

_**"This isn't for you," she responded, leaning up and taking his face into her hands. It had been too late for him to stop their lips pushing together. "Just promise you'll come home soon..." she whispered into his ear afterwards.**_

_**"... I'll do my best..."**_

_**She could still feel his small bits of saliva on her lips. She did all she could to not bite her lips to make it disappear and mix with her own. She wanted the feel of him to stay forever.**_

_**But it faded away as soon as the wind blew.**_

* * *

"You're Izayoi-chan?"

Aki could only nod, face-to-face with Fudo Hikaru. Hikaru then smiled warmly.

"Watashi wa Fudo Hikaru, Yusei's twin onee-chan." She offered her hand. "It's nice to meet you, Izayoi-chan!"

"A... plain 'Aki' is just fine." Aki said, finding herself smiling as she took Hikaru's hand, shaking hands.

_She's so unlike Yusei..._

"Welcome to our abode," Hikaru said, nearly dragging Aki over to the couch to sit down with her and Hikari. "Jack let us move in with him when we needed a safe zone from the press regarding the rumors!"

"Can I get anyone anything to drink?" Mikage asked.

"Mina-chan, chillax for once!" Hikaru said.

"'_Chillax'_?... '_Chill... ax'_?..." Mikage questioned, a finger on her chin in thought.

"It's a combination of the two words 'chill' and 'relax'." Hikaru said.

"It means you should chill out or relax, or both; take your pick." Genji said.

"Uh... I get to pick?..."

"Mikage," The woman screeched when Jack's hand was atop of her head. "Go lie down in your room for a while."

"B-b-b-but... but then, who will start making dinner?..." the bluenette woman asked.

"Mina-chan, you can just leave all of the cooking to Hikari and I!" Hikaru said. "It's what we do! Besides, you're more than just a housekeeper. You're our friend!"

"... Okay..." Jack then gently pushed her towards the stairs.

"Go get some rest, Mikage-chan." Jack said gently.

"Hai, Atlas-sama..." Mikage said, not even bowing before she made her way up the stairs, her hand on the hand-railing.

"Anyways," Jack looked over at Aki. "As I told you earlier, we've heard from Yusei recently."

"That's right," Genji said. "And by the looks of it, he isn't the best he's ever been."

"What's wrong with him?" Aki asked.

"According to Crow, he's a friend of ours, he's been losing sleep, he hasn't been eating very much, and he's barely acting like himself." Jack said.

"Oh, I think he's almost okay now, dearie," Hikaru said, brushing her hair from her face.

"First off... _dearie?_..." Jack asked. "Secondly, what do you mean?"

"I'm his twin sister, and twins are unbelievably close." Hikaru began. "Remember I told you that I knew he wasn't feeling very well because I could feel his feelings? Well, that big knot of unhappiness and heaviness is almost completely gone now."

"What happened when the both of you fainted?" Genji asked.

"By _'the both of you'_, do you mean Yusei and me, or afterwards when I fainted again and then Hikari fainted as well?"

"Smart ass... of course I mean when you and Yusei fainted!" Genji said.

"Well you don't need to yell..."

Genji sighed roughly.

"Anyways," Hikaru continued. "What I was able to make happened was mine and his unconsciousness met. In there, he was his old self, just scared in the dark."

"Yusei never really did like it in the dark..." Rally said. "He said it was painful to be alone in the dark."

"That explains why he always clung to me at night when we were children..." Jack said.

"I will squeal about the cuteness of that picture later," Hikaru said. "You can count on it, Jackie-boy."

"What else happened there, Karu?" Genji asked.

"I sang to him... and that seemed to help calm him down." Hikaru said. "But then when I couldn't stay any longer, he said he didn't want me to leave."

"Is that it?" Genji asked.

"... I can't remember what I said last..." Hikaru said, rubbing the top of her head in thought. "But then every thing got brighter, and I thought I heard a dragon's call."

"What did it sound like?" Jack asked.

"Like... like a jaguar, only much more bird-like." Hikaru said.

"Like the Crimson Dragon..." Luka said.

"I think that vision, as well as what happened afterwards, just proves that Burdens and Happiness have some hidden meaning to the story of the Crimson Dragon..." Jack said. "And did you see Yusei's birthmark?"

"What about it?" Nerve asked.

"It was glowing the entire time," Hikari said. "And then, afterwards... Akira and everyone..."

"Akira?" Aki asked.

"Say hello to the fifth Signer," Jack said, gesturing to Akira.

"That baby?" Aki asked, looking at the little baby boy.

"He's the head of the dragon," Hikari said, pushing up the pajama sleeve on Akira's right arm. Surely enough, the Crimson Dragon's birthmark was seen on his arm, only very small.

"But he's so young," Aki said. "He couldn't have been present when-"

"Hikari gave birth to him when the Crimson Dragon appeared," Luka said.

"And when I first saw him, I saw the birthmark glowing on his arm for a short moment." Hikari said.

"And the birthmark he has right now should be proof enough." Jack said. "We don't know how he came to be, but he came to be. Although, Godwin did have this severed arm he showed me with the dragon's head on it... but he showed me that days before the Fortune Cup."

"The arm could very well have been from a dead person as well," Hikaru said. "Besides, it doesn't matter anymore. Akira is the current dragon's head Signer, and according to that article I pulled up yesterday, he's the leader of the Signers."

"Leader of the Signers?" Aki asked.

"We received a letter from Crow yesterday, and afterwards, Hikaru decided to look up the Crimson Dragon and a few other things. She found an article that said the Signer with the dragon's head was almost always the leader of the Signers' group."

"So we've got to answer to a baby?" Aki asked, blinking.

"When he's old enough to understand," Genji said. "Akira's pretty clueless to the world right now, save when he's hungry or needs a diaper change."

"Aki, there is also something else that came up when we were on the phone with Crow and Tenshi," Jack said. "There's a group called the Dark Signers. They're using the Nazca lines to try and destroy the Satellite."

"But Yusei is in the Satellite right now!" Aki said.

"As well as many orphaned children, sick people, Martha, Crow and Tenshi." Genji said. "Yusei told us he was originally planning on going to the Satellite to retrieve Tenshi, our brother, but I think that was a small blanket of a lie he fabricated to try and take on the Dark Signers alone."

"That, and you told him he was a shitty brother." Nerve said.

"Who could forget that?" Hikaru asked.

"I get it, okay?!" Genji exclaimed. "Look, what's done is done, and we can't undo it. We only have one choice now,"

"And what is that?" Aki asked.

"We go to the Satellite as a team," Hikaru began, standing up.

"Defeat the Dark Signers," Genji began, standing up straight from his leaning against the back of a chair.

"And bring Yusei-Nii-san and Tenshi-Nii-chan home!" Hikari said, standing up as well.

"Then think of the rumors that will spread after you've disappeared, too!" Jack said. "It's not like I oppose the entire idea itself, but just think of the consequences! Three out of all of us might not make it back!"

"Oh, you did not just go there," Genji said, flicking his head to the lift to uncover his yellow marker.

"That was too low of a blow, Jack." Rally said.

"Markers should not matter," Hikari said. "Besides, a majority of us are from the Satellite. Yourself included."

"You just got told!" Rally said.

"We know this can't be as easy as it seems," Hikaru said. "But Yusei and Tenshi are the last of our living, bloodlined family left. We can't just live without them..."

"We owe it to our father and mothers," Genji said.

"Either you're in or you're out," Hikaru said, holding out her metal hand palm-down.

"I'm with Sissy-cha every step of the way," Hikari said, adjusting Akira into one of her arms so she could place her hand atop of her sister's.

"Someone's gotta keep an eye on you girls," Genji said, placing his hand over Hikari's. "The last time I let you wander off on your own is how we ended up like this."

"We're all in this together!" Rally said, placing his hand on Genji's. Blitz's followed, then Nerve's and Taka's.

"We're with Rally's words on this one," Luka said as Lua placed his in, she then placed in hers and then Tenpei's.

"Dark Signers don't scare me," Carly said, letting her hand on.

"I have confidence in you all," Aki said, bringing in her hand.

"So what's it gonna be, Jack? Are you in or are you out?" Hikaru asked.

"I never said I was out before," the blonde responded, placing his hand on.

"Then we're a team," Hikaru said, placing her human hand on the very top. "Together, we'll take down the Dark Signers and bring Yusei and Tenshi home safely."

"And together, we make up the New Team Satisfaction." Jack dared to state.

"Team Satisfaction?" Aki asked.

"We'll explain later," Rally said.

"Then we shall be," Hikaru began.

_**"The New Team Satisfaction!!"**_ they all cheered, throwing their fists into the air.

"We leave at midnight," Jack said. "I'll make the arrangements."

* * *

"Nii-san, are you still awake?" Tenshi yawned, rubbing his eyes.

"Yeah... I can't sleep..." Yusei responded. He sat up in bed, Charlie in his lap, staring into his button eyes. He sighed. "I'm such an idiot..."

"For what?" Tenshi asked. "Being sick?"

"I have limited time to defeat the Dark Signers," Yusei said. "I was thinking I'd have it all done in a month, but then a month ago I became..."

"That isn't Nii-san's fault," Tenshi said. "Sometimes we all just need to have time to cry and cling to others... you needed it a little more than most people."

"Now the entire Satellite might not make it through this, though, Tenshi..." Yusei said, laying down. "I can be such a child sometimes, that it even surprises me." He closed his eyes, sighing again. "When it comes right down to it, I'm still a child because of my selfishness..."

Tenshi found himself smiling when he saw that Yusei had finally fallen asleep. He laid back down, resting his head on his pillow.

"Well, ten o'clock isn't bad..." He yawned before he drifted off again.

* * *

_"Ten-kun, hurry!"_ Hikari said, tugging on his shoulder. _"If we don't leave soon, there'll be no hope!"_

Tenpei stared at his mother's bedroom door. Inside, Sayu was fast asleep. In his hand, he held a sealed envelope.

_"Forgive me for this, Mama..."_ he whispered, taping the letter onto her door.

_"I've never heard you call Miss Sayu 'Mama' before..."_ Hikari said.

_"I for some reason grew out of it,"_ Tenpei said, adjusting his backpack and picking up his sports bag. _"Now seems to be a good time to start again."_

_"There you are!"_ Genji said in a hushed tone when they came down the stairs. "We were ready to leave without you!"

_"You wouldn't,"_ Hikari said with a soft smile.

_"Come on, everybody hurry up!"_ Jack said in a hushed tone. After he opened the door, they all went out in a line, holding their packed belongings.

"I sure hope we come back in one piece," Lua said as they loaded their bags into the cargo of the helicopter.

"Hopefully we will," was all Jack said, getting into the pilot's seat. "Hikari," he said, looking over the back of the seat as she climbed in, Akira in his carrying seat. "Here, give this to Akira." he said, holding out a bottle of warmed milk.

"What is it? Formula?" Hikari asked.

"A special kind," Jack said. "It's a sedative."

"Sedative? But Akira will be fine..."

"We can't take any chances," Jack said, placing the rubber nipple into Akira's mouth. Almost immediately, the baby began to suckle, drinking down the milk. He let go of the bottle when Hikari held it in one of her hands.

Mikage climbed into the co-pilot's seat, buckling her seat-belt.

"Is everybody in?" Jack asked.

"We're all here," Saiga said. "I triple-checked."

"I just hope Mama will be okay without me..." Tenpei said, looking out of the window as the helicopter began to rise into the air.

"I'm sure Miss Sayu will understand," Hikari said, placing a hand onto his shoulder.

"If I don't come back... then I'll be just like my father..." Tenpei said, wiping his eyes with his hand.

"No you won't," Lua said. "Your father left because he's as blind as any other person when it comes to people with markers. He doesn't understand..."

"We are set for flight, Atlas-sama." Mikage said.

"Right," Jack nodded, beginning to fly them forwards.

Aki covered her mouth with her hand as she gave a rather large yawn.

_"This is certainly going to be a long night..."_ she said.

"You can sleep if you need to sleep," Jack said. "Mikage and I are the only ones who really need to be awake for this. We're driving this thing."

"Speaking of, you did remember to put the D-Wheels in the cargo, right?" Genji asked.

"It was my first priority after getting the chopper ready," Jack responded.

"Here, Aki-chan," Hikaru began, pulling Aki down gently so her head would rest on her shoulder. "You go to sleep if you're tired."

_"Thanks... Hikaru..."_ was said drowsily before Aki's honey-brown eyes closed.

"Jack? Is this formula sedative safe?" Hikari asked, removing the now empty bottle from Akira's mouth.

"Very safe," Jack responded. "Even I wouldn't give a baby something that was unsafe. I'm not that much of a bastard,"

"You are if your parents weren't married when you were born," Blitz said, cleaning his glasses on his shirt.

"Here we go," Hikaru began, keeping her human arm around Aki's shoulder as the other girl slept lightly. "Ten-thousand footsteps in search of Twinny-chan."

No more turning back.

* * *

_**To Be Continued...**_

And there is chapter ten!

Aki: Yep. I did notice that Izayoi-chan is somewhat out of character in this, though...

Gash: Work with me, here, Akks! I'm finally getting to the point where the adventure sets in! And come on, we all know Aki has a crush on Yusei, but her and him can never be because Yusei is already bumping uglies with Jack! _**Doy!**_

Aki: You are such a yaoi fan girl...

Gash: Would there be any other reason for me to like it so much?

Zeon: I find it to be rather satisfying when written correctly.

Aki: You and your big words and ass-kissing...

Zeon: (Random donkey appears beside him) I thought I've explained to you that I do not approve of marrying Frankford.

Frankford (the donkey): _**???**_

Gash: Well... while they're busy doing stuff, review for me, please! More stuff is to come next chapter!

Zeon: Review or Frankford will eat your couch.

Frankford: _**???**_


	11. 10,000 Footsteps, Part Two

"Aki... Aki! Wake up, Aki!"

_"Papa, five more minutes..."_ she moaned in her sleep, turning and resting her head the other way.

"Aki-chan, you're kind of heavy..." Hikari said, the older girl's head resting atop of her head.

_"Where'd my monkey go?..."_ Aki mumbled.

"Aki-chan sure seems tired..." Hikari said as Hikaru gently picked her up from her head, letting her rest on her shoulder again.

"Well, she woke up for a while when you were all asleep," Hikaru said. "It's been a pretty long night..."

"Now it's morning," Jack said. "Quarter to seven to be exact."

"Jesus, seven hours on a chopper," Genji said, stretching his arms out in front of himself. "No wonder my butt's falling asleep..."

"The seats are cushioned," Jack said.

"Still, I've been sitting for a long time." Genji said. "When do we land this thing?"

"We'll be at Martha's soon," Jack said.

"Jack-Nii-san, do you remember where Martha lives?" Rally asked.

"_Do I remember where Martha lives?_" Jack asked after he scoffed lightly. "How could I forget?"

"You'll love Martha, guys," Rally said, looking around at the others. "She's so momma-like... and really nice, too! But she'll kick someone's ass if it's called for!"

"Sounds like my kind of lady!" Hikaru said.

"Wake Aki up," Jack said. "We'll be landing soon."

"Aki-chan," Hikari said as Hikaru gently shook her. "Aki-chan,"

"Wake up, Aki," Hikaru said.

_"Wait, my monkey!..."_ Aki mumbled. Her eyes then scrunched before they began to open. _"Uuuuuuhn... where am I?..."_

"We're going to find Yusei, remember?" Hikaru asked.

"Hmm... oh, that's right..." Aki said, rubbing her eyes as she slowly sat herself up straight. "I had the strangest dream about a monkey and a tiger... they were both named Paul."

"There's Martha's! Right there!" Rally said, pointing at the window. "I remember that tree! I remember that porch!"

"Get ready to stretch your legs, cuz we're landing." Jack said.

"I have to pee so badly..." Lua said, fidgeting in his seat with his hands between his legs.

"I told you not to drink so much at dinner," Luka said.

"Why do you always tell me so?..." Lua whined.

**Yusei: "10,000 Footsteps In Search Of Twinny-chan, Part Two."**

**_"Nii-san!! Martha!! There's something up in the sky, there's something up in the sky!!"_**

"Tenshi, Tenshi! Calm down," Martha said, holding the boy by the shoulders before he fell over. "What are you talking about?"

_**"There's a UFO in the sky!! You gotta see it!!"**_ Tenshi said, grabbing one of their hands each in his hands. He nearly dragged them behind him as he ran back towards the front of the house.

"Tenshi, that's no UFO!" Martha said, looking up at the sky from the porch.

**_"It's Jack!!"_** Yusei exclaimed, seeing the blonde boy through the helicopter windshield.

"That means..." Tenshi fisted his hands, holding them up as he smiled. _**"They came to help!!"**_

The doors of the helicopter opened once it was on the ground, and out flooded the entire gang.

**_"Setsuna-Nii-saaaaaaaaaaaaaan!!"_** Tenshi exclaimed, running with his arms out towards the green-haired boy.

"Tenshi!" Genji exclaimed.

**_"Setsuna!!"_** Tenshi jumped up, clinging to his brother's neck when he approached him. _**"I missed you so much!!"**_ he said as Genji wrapped his arms around him tightly.

"Kami, you have no idea how good it is to see you!" Genji said as Tenshi snuggled his face into the juncture of his neck and shoulder cutely.

"You got really big since the last time I saw you," Tenshi giggled.

"You're not too shabby yourself, Otouto," Genji said, adjusting himself just a bit as Tenshi wrapped his legs around his stomach-torso area, pulling back and smiling at him.

"You look a lot how like Momma did!" Tenshi said.

"That's what Hikaru kept on saying when we saw what she looked like," Genji said. "And you just look so beautiful."

"Aren't girls supposed to be beautiful?" Tenshi asked, cocking his head to the side.

"You know what I mean; it's like when you see a baby." Genji said.

"Speaking of babies," Hikari rocked Akira in her arms, Tenpei holding his carrying seat. "Looks like Akira's just starting to wake up."

"Yusei,"

Yusei picked his head up, his eyes remaining remorseful as he laid his eyes on Hikaru. She had her black backpack on her back and another bag on her shoulder.

"You look like you're feeling better," she said, leaning down and placing down the bag on her shoulder.

"I'm a bit better than I was before," Yusei said, his voice soft. He brought his head up a bit higher "... Thanks, Hikaru..."

Yusei should have seen Hikaru's hug coming. It was a split second later that he found himself lost in her arms, his face practically shoved onto her bosom.

_**"Now you turn that frown upside-down before I start tickling you!!"**_ Hikaru kidded, noogying him with her metal fist.

_**"Ow, ow, ow!! Karu, ow!! Stop that!! Let me go!!"**_ Yusei found himself whining.

_"No, I don't think I will!!"_ Hikaru grinned.

_"Karu... breathe... air... lungs... remember?... **Oxygen!!**"_ Yusei gasped.

"Oh, right! Sorry,"

Martha held out one arm as Yusei collapsed, catching him with barely any effort.

"So you must be Martha," Hikaru said with a smile as the black-haired lady helped Yusei stand back up on his feet. "I'm Hikaru, Yusei's twin onee-chan!"

"I can see that," Martha said with a smile as she patted a panting Yusei on the back.

"Get caught in one of Karu's bear hugs?" Taka asked.

"Wouldn't you know it?..."

"Yusei,"

"Huh?" Yusei picked his head up again. "Genji." He couldn't stop the elder boy's flying fist from landing square on his cheek, sending him down to the ground.

"Setsuna!! What the hell?!" Hikaru asked.

_**"Baka!! Do you have any idea what you've been putting us through?!"**_ Genji asked, grasping Yusei by his shirt with both hands, pulling him up. He locked their faces together, growling as he held Yusei up in the air. **_"Everything's a fucking mess now!! And everyone wonders why I called you a shitty brother..."_**

**_"Setsuna, put him down!!"_** Hikaru exclaimed, tugging Genji's arms down with her right hand alone. _**"Why do you always blame Yusei?!"**_ she asked, pulling the boy into her arms when she shoved Genji away.

**_"He's the biggest idiot in the world!!"_** Genji retorted. **_"He was a brother to Hikari for all of one month, maybe less, and he walks around with his head shoved up his ass!! He can't do anything right!!"_**

**_"Well you shouldn't be one to judge people!! Just look at you!!"_** Hikaru snapped. _**"You're an even bigger baby than Akira!!"**_

_**"You're putting words in my mouth!!"**_

_**"I'll put my fist in your mouth!!"**_ Hikaru dared, holding up her fisted robot hand.

**_"Stop it!!"_** Nerve exclaimed, pushing them apart by placing a hand on each of their faces. "This is crazy!! You guys are family!! Why the hell are you fighting?!"

"I think it might be their over-tiredness talking," Aki said. "Because I swear even I am still seeing that monkey from my dream..."

"Butt out of this," Genji growled.

"You're saying that to the wrong person," Aki said, placing her hands on her hips.

"Here, Genji, have a cookie," Martha said, holding out a cookie in her hand.

Genji blinked behind Nerve's hand, utterly confused.

"Go on, take it." Martha said with a smile.

"Try it! Martha's great at cooking!" Tenshi said.

"Okay..." Genji reached out one hand, taking the cookie before he took a bite out of it, killing about half of it.

"You like it, Nii-san?" Tenshi asked.

"It tastes a little funny... what's in these things?" Genji asked after he swallowed.

"Butter, milk, chocolate chips, water, flour, sugar, eggs, and sedatives." Martha responded.

_**"SEDATIVES?!?!"**_ Genji screeched, stumbling over onto his bottom.. _**"WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU MAKE COOKIES WITH-"**_ Genji then began to sway, his eyelids drooping tiredly. A moment later he fell backwards, asleep, snoring loudly.

"... Dare I ask why, Martha?..." Jack asked, jaw-dropped.

"We had to get Yusei to sleep somehow," Martha said. "So we had to give him sedatives continuously so he'd wear himself out."

"But they knocked Genji right out," Blitz said.

"Boggles the mind, doesn't it?" Martha laughed as she turned around. "Come on, you kids come on inside. You look exhausted,"

* * *

"Here we are," Martha said, pouring tea into cups. "Seven hours on a helicopter must have been brutal."

"I feel much better now that I've emptied my bladder..." Lua said with a happy sigh.

"Boys..." Luka rolled her eyes. "Always thinking below their belts..."

"And Yusei, if I were you, I'd just ignore Setsuna when he's angry," Hikaru said, keeping one of her arms wrapped around his shoulders, making his head rest on his shoulder. "Remember, I told you he's different at expressing his feelings and affections for people... he was really worried about you, believe me, he was... he just doesn't like to show it."

"I hear you..." Yusei responded, staring down.

"Setsuna-Nii-san's in our room now," Tenshi said, pulling out a free chair and sitting at the table. "He should be asleep for the next few hours."

"Tenshi, have you seen Crow at all this morning?" Martha asked.

"He left really early," Tenshi responded, picking up his mug of tea and beginning to drink out of it. "About five o'clock. He said he'd be back in a few hours, so he should be back soon."

"Knowing Crow, he's probably out stealing what ever he can get his dirty little hands on..." Jack said, leaning is head on his hand.

**_"Huh?!"_** Tenshi blinked. "I knew he was a thief, but _**that**_ bad?!"

"Tenshi, how do you think he got that medicine and the money he's been giving me in exchange for food?" Martha asked. "I could care less, though, because he always escapes Security and he never gets caught. He isn't my little blackbird for nothing..."

"He's been running off a lot lately..." Tenshi said. "And half of the time, he doesn't even come back with stuff."

"Driving that D-Wheel of his just helps him clear his mind," Martha said. "Kami knows he's needed it a lot lately."

"Who knows when a Dark Signer will pop up, either..." Yusei said in a low tone.

"I'm surprised that all of the other children are still asleep right now," Tenshi said. "That helicopter sure made a lot of noise..."

"They never get up any earlier than eight thirty," Martha said. "Children need to recharge their batteries more so than others."

"Huh? They made it here so quickly?"

"Oh, Crow-kun!" Tenshi said, smiling at the orange-haired boy as he entered the kitchen from the hallway. "You're back!"

"Jesus, Crow! You look like shit!" Jack said.

"You're no cream puff yourself, Jackie," Crow responded with his signature grin, sitting down in-between Yusei and Martha.

"Did you get enough sleep last night?" Martha asked.

"Plenty," Crow responded, placing his right arm down on the table. His eyes the popped open when a sound of bumping was heard.

"What are you hiding?" Martha asked, reaching for his arm only to have him pull it away and hold it up in the air.

"Nothing that concerns you," Crow responded.

"Kurosu Crow,"

"It's nothing, Martha," Crow said, placing his hands in his lap.

"Nothing or something?"

"Am I not allowed to have my own little secrets anymore?" Crow asked.

"From me, no." Martha said, reaching out to Crow's arm again, only to have him reach it out of her way again.

"Martha, we have company-"

"Boink,"

Crow blinked, looking over at Hikaru. Her free right hand held Crow's right wrist, not letting him go.

"Ratted out by the sister..." he said, hanging his head as Martha reached under his armband.

"Crow," Martha began, looking at the small box after she pulled it out. "This is a pregnancy test."

"Look, it's not mine!" Crow said, lowering his arm back down after Hikaru gently let him go. "It's for a girl I know north of here who was recently raped by a Security officer! She said she got really worried when she missed her period, so she asked me if I could go to this doctor south of here and pick it up for her! It's safer to travel there by D-Wheel or car or what have you!"

"If she's so worried, why didn't you just bring it back to her?" Martha asked.

Snatching the box away, Crow stood back up, heading for the hallway. He stopped in the doorway. His voice cracking, he mumbled something.

"What was that?" Martha asked.

_**"I said I might be pregnant! Alright?! Are you happy?!"**_ Crow shouted, looking back at her with tears in his eyes.

"Say _**what?**_" Jack asked.

"Crow, how did this happen?" Martha asked, standing up. "I demand to know! Who did this to you?!"

Sniffling, Crow turned his head away. He hid his eyes in his left armband, his shoulder shaking.

"I actually..." he began. "About a week before I found Yusei and Tenshi, I ran into Kiryu..." His voice was straining as he fought back his tears. "Jack, remember? I told you in confidence after we found out he died that for the longest time, him and I were lovers..."

"I saw that coming from a mile away," Yusei mumbled.

"He just lured me in, he seduced me, and I couldn't say no..." Crow held his head in his hands with the pregnancy test box held tightly in his right hand. "I've taken several expired pregnancy tests while I was away from here several times, but I finally got my hands on an unexpired one... and I know it is a lot harder for a male to conceive over a female, but... even though they were all expired, they all came out as positive. If this one comes out positive, then... it'll just fit all of the puzzle pieces together. I've had weird food cravings, I've been throwing up, I've been having mood swings I'm doing all I can to hold back on. I'm even gaining weight... I was able to get a hold of a maternity belt, so I look rather normal, but... I'm zoning in on two months, and it's all just increasing... I've had to loosen my belt twice already! And I don't mean by one space each time, I had to do it by two each time!"

"Crow," Martha began, placing her hand on his shoulder. "Listen to me, okay? You didn't do anything wrong. I know you loved Kiryu very much, and then to see him again like that after hearing he was dead... you must not have thought much of it."

"I'm an idiot," Crow muttered. "Even if I never believed he were dead, I shouldn't have just done what I did without a second thought..."

"Crow, you go and take that test, okay?" Martha said. "I'll run out and get you another. Those things can give off false results, you know," She rubbed his shoulder for a moment before letting him go.

"Okay..." he whispered, slowly heading down the hallway.

There was silence for the longest time after Crow closed the bathroom door behind himself.

"Well," Martha began, breaking the silence. She placed her hands on her hips. "I'd better go out and get him another test." She headed down the hallway. "I'll be back shortly."

"Poor Crow..." Nerve said.

"I had no idea..." Jack said. "Kiryu meant everything to him... this must be destroying him."

"I think you're right," Blitz said, not being his smart-ass self and wise-cracking what Jack had said.

They all screamed, snapping out of their trances when Akira began to cry.

"Jesus, that baby nearly gave me a heart attack!" Jack said, holding a hand over his chest.

"Sorry," Hikari said, leaning down to reach into Akira's diaper bag. "He's just waking up; he must be hungry."

"Uh..." Yusei blinked as Hikari sat back up straight, holding a bottle in her hand.

"Don't ya remember, Twinny-chan?" Hikaru asked. "We found out Hikari was pregnant the day of the Fortune Cup. Akira was born on the same day!"

"... Right... how did I forget that?" Yusei asked.

"He looks just like his momma, don't cha think?" Hikaru asked. Yusei had his eyes locked onto Akira as he watched the baby drink down his bottle.

"... Yeah..."

* * *

"Hikaru,"

She looked over at her twin brother sitting beside her on the back porch steps. Yusei picked his head up from his knees, still hugging his knees tightly as he dared to look over at her.

"I'm sorry..." he whispered.

"Yusei, you have nothing to be sorry for..." Hikaru said.

"Yes I do," Yusei said, placing his head on his knees again. "I just know that Akira's existance has something to do with me. It's no coincidence; Hikari and I, we... and then she ended up giving birth to a Signer."

"Yusei, listen to me," Hikaru said sternly, placing her hand on his shoulder. "Nothing is your fault, okay? You didn't do anything wrong."

"That's what everybody always tells me," Yusei whispered. "It's like I can never do anything wrong, but then Genji was the one who says I can't do anything right. So where do I lie?"

"... Listen to me, Yusei..." Hikaru began. "The way I see the world, there's always a... a darkness, inside of people that they have to overcome."

"... I think there's a darkness in me, too..." Yusei said, letting the tears fall from his eyes again.

"... You can't let this go, can you?..." Hikaru asked.

"It just... keeps on haunting me..." He found himself clinging to Hikaru when she pulled him into her arms, petting his hair soothingly. "Hikari was the most pure little thing in this disastrous world, and because she met me, it was all ripped away from her..."

_"Ssssssssh, sssh, sssh sssh sssh..."_ Hikaru shushed, rocking him.

_**"Crow, Crow!! Wait, don't run away!!"**_

Before they knew it, Crow sprinted out the back door, jumping over the two twins taking up the space on the stairs. He landed cleanly on his feet before he ran over to the bushes.

"His favorite spot..." Yusei said as he saw Crow nearly cram himself into the space between the bush and the fence. "He always hid there when we were kids. When ever he needed cheering up, he'd sit there all alone..." He tried to smile, but could only get his mouth to twitch. He sighed. "I always sang _Twirling, Whirling_ to him when he was depressed..."

Hikaru sighed, holding Yusei closer to her.

_He's living in the past..._

"Excuse me,"

"Oh, Kari," Hikaru said, pulling Yusei onto her lap as the silver-haired girl made her way down the steps. "What are you doing?"

"I'm gonna go talk to Crow-kun," Hikari responded.

"You are?" Hikaru asked, blinking.

"Uh-huh," Hikari nodded, smiling sweetly. "I wanna make him feel all bettersu!"

Hikaru could only stare after her as she saw her walking towards where Crow hid.

_She really does take away everyone's burdens..._

* * *

"Crow-kun?"

Crow kept his head down, his hands on top of his head. He remained motionless, even when Hikari sat on her knees in front of him.

"Are you okay?" she asked sweetly, concern in her voice.

"You wouldn't understand..." he mumbled.

"I wanna help you, Crow-kun," she said, sitting in front of the fence, her back to the fence. Her feet blocked his way of getting out slightly.

"What is there for me to do?" Crow asked, his eyes opened halfway. "I don't have the heart to get rid of this... it isn't even an option. If I drink alcohol I'll act like a Russian, if I could get an abortion, it'd be painful, with knitting needles or a coat hanger, and no sedative or painkillers."

"It's okay," Hikari laid her hand on his knee. "I went through the same thing."

Crow lifted his head up, looking at her with confused silver-green eyes.

"You? You're just a kid..."

"I know that," she said. "But I brought my son Akira into the world despite that fact."

"When did you?..."

"I didn't find out until I was at the hospital for a headache that wouldn't go away," Hikari said. "Akira was a mystery, though. We don't really have an explination for where he came from, and he was born a Signer."

She saw Crow's eyes blinking slowly, his expression looking tired.

"I made the decision to stay his momma because on the same day I found out I was pregnant, he was born a healthy baby boy. But... the feeling of there being something that you made, and it belonging to only you, it's magical." She gave Crow a small smile. "From the sound of it... you must have loved Kiryu a lot, Crow-kun. A whole lot..." Crow nodded slowly. "But now you hold a part of him in you physically. The baby belongs to only you..." She paused. "You can do anything if you just believe a little. You won't be alone..."

* * *

"You certainly seemed to cheer Crow up some, Hikari," Martha praised.

"I know how he's feeling," Hikari said, concentrating on frying scrambled eggs. "There were a lot of feelings running through my head when I found out I was pregnant with Akira."

"Hey, Martha?" Hikaru began.

"Yes, Hikaru-chan?" Martha asked.

"... Do you think Yusei ever has a chance at recovering?"

"Huh?" Martha placed down the apple she was peeling. "Now what makes you ask that?"

"When I saw him when we were unconscious," Hikaru began, staring out the window. "He seemed so unlike himself. And just now, when I was talking with him alone, I found out he's living in the past. That's unlike him, as well..."

"I'll agree with you there," Martha said. "When he began to play Duel Monsters, he began to think big. He and the others left here when he was fifteen. They met Kiryu not too long after that..."

"Hikari," Hikaru looked down at her little sister. "I think that if Yusei forgets about that one night, he might get better."

"Would it be the only way, Sissy-cha?..." Hikari asked.

"At the moment, I think so..." Hikaru responded. "Yusei's losing himself. He has to find himself again... we have to help him somehow. With everything that's going on all at once, he even told me that, because of that one night, it's his fault you gave birth to a Signer."

"... Hypnosis can help someone forget things,"

"Huh?" Hikaru looked over her shoulder at Mikage. "Mina-chan?"

"... Godwin... he ended up using hypnosis to block something out of both Jack and Hikari's memory... something he told me happened during the time she was kidnapped..." Mikage said, keeping her back to the sisters and woman. She continued to peel and slice fruit at the opposite kitchen counter. "He said it was for the benefit of both Jack and Hikari. He told me he couldn't tell me what it was, and quite frankly, I don't even want to know."

"Most of that morning was blank to me..." Hikari said, lowering her gaze. "Even after I woke up."

"Mina-chan," Hikaru began, turning around and walking across the kitchen. "Do you know how to perform hypnosis?"

"I do..." she responded.

"Mina-chan," Hikaru placed her human hand on Mikage's shoulder. "If you can, could you help us save Yusei?"

"... I'll do what I can..."

* * *

"Before I begin, it is required that I ask you if you will not regret forgetting this." Mikage said, sitting on the desk chair. Yusei sat at the edge of his bed. Mikage held Jack's gold pocket watch in her hand - her hypnosis tool. "Are you sure you want to go through with this? You can live without regretting this? You can't turn back on this..."

Yusei kept on shaking, looking at the bluenette woman through the bangs of his hair.

"I can't go on knowing that..." He paused, trying to hold back an uprising sob as he hiccuped. "That I ruined Hikari's life and landed her with Akira..."

Hikari looked at Yusei remorsefully, Akira laying calmly in her arms. Tenpei had his arm wrapped around her shoulders, and Hikaru, Genji, Tenshi and the others all stood in a group with them.

"Yusei," Mikage began, holding up the golden pocket watch by its chain. "Look at this, and don't take your eyes off of it..." she said as it began to swing back and forth.

Yusei's blue eyes locked onto the moving watch as it swung like a pendulum, already becoming hypnotized by the moving object.

"Do you have the memory locked into your mind?" Mikage asked.

"Hai..." Yusei responded in a monotone.

"Listen to me... Hikaru is going to sing a song for you." Mikage said. "After it's over, you will fall asleep for an hour. After then, you will remember nothing of the memory you are locked into."

Yusei's eyes grew blank, showing he was transfixed. It was working.

"Well," Hikaru began, giving a sigh afterwards. She stepped from the group. "Here goes nothing."

She placed her hands in the middle of her chest, over her heart. She hummed lightly for a moment or two.

Hikaru: _**Hermano mío, no llorar...  
Hermano mío, seca tus ojos...  
Descanse la cabeza cerca de mi corazón,  
Nunca a una parte, hermano mío...**_

_**Un poco, cuando usted juega,  
No cuenta lo que dicen...  
Que los ojos brillan y brillo,  
Nunca una lágrima, hermano mío...**_

_**De la cabeza a los dedos de los pies,  
(Hermano mío...)  
Usted es tan dulce, dios sabe...  
(Hermano mío...)  
Eres tan valioso para mí,  
Cute como puede ser, hermano mío...**_

_**Hermano mío, hermano mío...**_

Yusei's eyes slipped closed. His head fell back, and he gave a contented sigh as he fell over onto his back on the bed.

_"Adiós, hermanita..."_ he whispered before his slowed breaths showed he drifted off.

Sighing, Hikari hung her head.

_"Nii-san..."_

"You did the right thing, Hikari..." Genji said, laying a hand onto her shoulder. "I know it was hard to do, but... now Yusei can recover."

"Coming from the boy who tried to punch him senseless..." Aki mumbled.

"Mina-chan," Hikari began, picking her head up. "Can you... can you make me forget it, too?..."

"Nani?" Mikage blinked.

"It's for the best..." Hikari said, placing Akira into Tenpei's arms.

Mikage gave a nod, and Hikari stepped forwards. Before she sat down, Hikaru pulled her into her arms.

_"Lil' Light... arigatou..."_ Hikaru said in a whisper, although everyone could hear her. _"I'll never forget how you've helped Twinny-chan like this..."_

_"This is for the best..."_ Hikari whispered back. Hikaru then let her go, and she sat down on the bed. She placed her hands in her lap, holding her knees together.

"Are you sure?" Mikage asked. "This is irreversible. You will not regret this?"

"This is for the best..." Hikari said, shaking her head "no" lightly once. "Nii-san will feel better without this memory. It's best I forget it as well..."

_"Hikari..."_ Tenpei uttered.

"Hikari," Mikage held up the watch again, letting it swing back and forth. "Keep your eyes on it."

Hikari did just that, her eyes following the golden watch.

"Is the memory locked?"

"Hai..."

Mikage looked over at Hikaru, and in response, Hikaru nodded.

"Genj, Tens, come sing with me." she said.

"What do you need us for?" Genji asked, taking Tenshi's hand and walking them over to her.

"_Riu Chiu_ is chorussed," Hikaru responded.

"Hikari," Mikage began. "Genji, Hikaru and Tenshi are going to sing a song for you. After it's over, you will fall asleep for an hour. After then, you will remember nothing of the memory you are locked into."

Hikari remained unresponsive, her eyes blanking as she followed the golden watch.

"One, two, three, four," Hikaru counted off.

Genji and Tenshi: _**Riu riu chiu, la guarda ribera.  
Dios guardo el lobo de nuestra cordera.  
Dios guardo el lobo de neustra cordera.**_

Hikaru, Genji and Tenshi: _**Riu riu chiu, la guarda ribera.  
Dios guardo el lobo de nuestra cordera.  
Dios guardo el lobo de neustra cordera.**_

Genji: **_El lobo rabioso la quiso morder,  
Mas Dios poderoso la supo defender.  
Quisola hazer que no pudiese pecar,  
Ni aun original esta Virgen no tuviera._**

Hikaru, Genji and Tenshi: _**Riu riu chiu, la guarda ribera.  
Dios guardo el lobo de nuestra cordera.  
Dios guardo el lobo de neustra cordera.**_

Genji: _**Este qu'es nacido es el gran monarca,  
Christo, patriarca, de carne vestido.  
Hemos redemido con se hazer chiquito,  
Aunqu'era infinito, finito se hiziera.**_

Hikaru, Genji and Tenshi: _**Riu riu chiu, la guarda ribera.  
Dios guardo el lobo de nuestra cordera.  
Dios guardo el lobo de neustra cordera.**_

Hikari's eyes slipped closed, and she let a breath in and out of her mouth before she fell forwards. Hikaru held out her left arm, catching Hikari before she could fall.

_"Gracias, Poca Luz... muchas gracias..."_ Hikaru whispered before she laid Hikari down.

Genji tightened his grip on Tenshi's hand a bit as he looked down at the sleeping faces of both Yusei and Hikari.

"Hopefully, now they can walk on the road to recovery..." Genji said.

"Twinny-chan can now..." Hikaru began. "Begin to... find himself..."

* * *

_**To Be Continued...**_

Well, there we have it... and before peoples tongue-lash me for adding in mpreg, shoosh! ~.~ I'm not as crazy as I was with it before... I'm being more... is "subtle" the right for for it?... Anyways, I'm being more responsible when using it in a plot.

Zeon: "Plot" is kind of a funny word... it rolls right off your tongue.

Gash: And, yes, _Hermano Mío_ has appeared again, and then _Riu Chiu_ came up as well. I'm going to find The Monkees' version of _Riu Chiu_ on YouTube and put up a link of it on my profile. If I can't find it, I'll post a video with it myself.

Aki: And the translated lyrics of _Riu Chiu_ will be posted at the end of this author note.

Gash: Also!! What Hikaru whispered to Hikari after she fell is Spanish for "Thank you, Little Light... thank you so much..."

Zeon: Yup.

Gash: And since I have nothing much left to say, would you kind peoples review?

Zeon: Review or die.

Aki: You've used that one already...

Zeon: In another fanfic, not this one.

Aki: Touche...

Riu Chiu English lyrics from Spanish:

River, roaring river, guard our homes in safety.  
God has kept the black wolf from our lamb, our Lady.  
God has kept the black wolf from our lamb, our Lady.

River, roaring river, guard our homes in safety.  
God has kept the black wolf from our lamb, our Lady.  
God has kept the black wolf from our lamb, our Lady.

Raging mad to bite her, there the wolf did steal,  
But our God Almighty defended her with zeal.  
Pure He wished to keep Her so She could never sin,  
That first sin of man never touched the Virgin sainted.

River, roaring river, guard our homes in safety.  
God has kept the black wolf from our lamb, our Lady.  
God has kept the black wolf from our lamb, our Lady.

He who's now begotten is our mighty Monarch,  
Christ, our Holy Father, in human flesh embodied.  
He has brought atonement by being born so humble,  
Though He is immortal, as mortal was created.

River, roaring river, guard our homes in safety.  
God has kept the black wolf from our lamb, our Lady.  
God has kept the black wolf from our lamb, our Lady.


	12. 10,000 Footsteps, Part Three

"Alright, Crow. What's up? You've been doing nothing but staring at and poking your stomach for twenty minutes now."

Crow picked his head up, looking across the table at Jack.

"Just look at this!! I'm already starting to look like a big, fat pregnant lady!!" Crow said, standing up. His left hand kept his shirt up, his right index finger poking a small round on his belly. "It looks like I swallowed a rubber duck!!"

"No, it doesn't," Nerve said. "It just looks like you let yourself go a little!"

Jack hit the brunette on the back of the head when Crow lifted his hands to his mouth, looking away as he began to shake.

"**_Baka!!_** Why not just tell him he looks like a _**fucking**_ **cow?!**"

**_"I'M A COW?!?!"_** Crow shrieked, turning around with worry shining in his eyes.

"No, you're not a cow!!" Blitz said. "You're... you're beautiful!!"

"I am?..."

"What would you know, Blitzu? You're straight!" Rally said.

_**"RALLY!!!"**_ the bluenette boy shouted.

**_"I KNEW IT!!! I'M HIDEOUS!!!"_** Crow shrieked, punching Blitz right in the cheek, knocking him from his chair. He then covered his face with his hands, turning away.

"Crow, honey, don't you let their words mess with you." Martha said, placing a hand onto the boy's shoulder. "I know you're a beautiful young boy, and you're not fat at all. You're glowing."

"You really think so?..." Crow asked, picking his head up.

"I know so," Martha smiled.

"Kami, we should count ourselves lucky Lil' Light wasn't like that when she was pregnant..." Hikaru said.

**_"FERNSEHEN BLITZKRIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEG!!!"_**

"Uh-oh," Hikaru blinked. "I think Genji was nosing through my bag!"

_**"HIDE ME!!!"**_ Blitz exclaimed, jumping up from the floor and standing behind Hikaru with his hands on her shoulders. _**"HE'S GOING TO RIP OFF MY TESTICLES, FRY THEM IN HONEY BATTER AND FEED THEM TO JACK FOR DINNER!!!"**_

"First of all..." Jack began. He then cringed wildly. _**"Eeeeeeewwwww!!"**_

"And here I thought you were gay..." Nerve said, leaning his head on his hand.

"Cannibalism and homosexuality are two entirely different things!" Jack said.

**_"Setsuna, calm down!!"_** Tenshi exclaimed.

_**"BLITZKRIEG!!!"**_ Genji brandished a black pocket knife between the knuckles of his right fist, Tenshi tugging at him by his neck. _**"SAY YOUR PRAYERS!!!"**_

"Genji, cool it for a second!!" Hikaru said, holding out a hand in defense. Her eyes were locked onto the shining silver of the blade, fear evident in her eyes. "We can explain!!"

"I'll let you explain, alright, Fudo Hikaru!!" Genji exclaimed before his poisonous glare averted over to Blitz. "But only after he's six feet under!!" He then looked Hikaru in the eyes. "And despite what you know and believe, I have killed before, Imoto!!"

_**"JUST RIP OFF MY TESTICLES ALREADY AND GET IT OVER WIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITH!!!"**_ Blitz screeched, crouching down with his hands over his head.

**_"Not very likely!! I'm going to tear you apart limb from limb!!"_**

**_"Genj, you're a fucking sadist!!"_** Hikaru shouted.

**_"I WANT MY MAMAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!"_** Blitz shrieked.

Biting his lower lip, Genji began to shake. Cracking a grin, he wrapped his free left arm around Tenshi.

_**"Oh Kami above, that was too rich!!"**_ Genji exclaimed, collapsing onto his knees as he burst out laughing.

_**"You were right, Setsuna-Nii-san!! That was fun!!"**_ Tenshi said, his fist punching the floor as he laughed.

"Huh?" Hikaru blinked, blank in the face.

**_"Holy Jesus, I think Blitz wet himself!!"_** Genji exclaimed.

"Would you two please explain to me what the hell is going on?!" Hikaru asked.

_**"We sure tricked you, Onee-chan!!"**_ Tenshi said, his face turning red from laughter. _**"Man Setsuna, you were right!! It is fun to be partners in crime!!"**_

"Convincing rage, wasn't it, Karu?" Genji asked, wiping a tear from his eyes.

"Blitz, you can stop crying now," Hikaru said, crouching down beside the bluenette. "It was only a trick."

"... I think I just had a heart attack..."

**Yusei: "10,000 Footsteps In Search Of Twinny-chan, Part Three."**

"For a minute there, Genj, I thought you'd been knocked off of your rocker." Jack said.

"Nah, my rocker's intact." Genji responded. "Sorry for the huge scare, though, Blitz. It sure was fun messing with you, though..."

"Really, Setsuna," Hikaru began, keeping her human hand on Blitz's shoulder. "That was a little uncalled for."

"It was my idea!" Tenshi said, raising his hand up into the air proudly.

"This kid's a genious," Genji said, him and Tenshi wrapping their arms around each others shoulders. "I wanted to flip out for real, and he comes up with something ten times better!"

"That, and even though you knew there were sedatives in them, you would have fallen for the cookie trick again." Tenshi giggled.

"What were you all so worked up about, Genji?" Nerve asked.

"Well, I suppose this would have come out sooner or later," Hikaru said.

"I suppose," Blitz said.

"What is it, what is it?" Rally asked excitedly.

"Blitzy and I," Hikaru began with a bright smile. "Are going to have a baby!"

"Neh? Onee-chan, you're pregnant?" Rally asked.

"Uh-huh!" Hikaru nodded. "I'm about six weeks in!"

"Crow?" Jack turned his head, looking over at the orange-haired boy. "What's the matter? Are you crying?"

"Crow?" Martha placed a hand onto his shoulder. "Are you alright?"

_"Y-ye-yesssss..."_ he responded, wiping his eyes and nose continuously with his hands.

"You certainly don't seem alright..." Jack said.

_"I'm just so..."_ Crow picked his head up, smiling brightly. _**"Happy!!"**_

A moment later, Hikaru found herself on her feet, caught in the pregnant boy's arms.

"Now I don't have to go through this alone!! We can be best friends staying up late to just talk, swapping funny stories, and then in the morning we'll start all over again!!"

"I would so love that!! My best friend is a gay guy!!" Hikaru said, hugging the orange-haired boy back, smiling just as brightly as he was. "Oooo!! And when ever we get cravings, I'll cook us what ever we want!!"

"Huh?... Sissy-cha?..."

Remaining in her hug, Hikaru looked over to the doorway. Hikari stood there with a crying Akira in her arms, still dressed in her pajamas. Her pajamas consisted of white pajama pants and a long-sleeved, pink nightgown with a hood on it. The hood had pink, plush cat ears on it.

"What's going onsu?" Hikari asked tiredly. Small black circles were beneath her eyes.

"Onee-chan's pregnant!" Rally said.

"Yuppers! There's a little curl of flesh growing in my uterus!" Hikaru said, smiling even more brightly.

"Sissy-cha, you're going to be a momma?" Hikari asked.

"Uh-huh!" Hikaru responded, breaking her hug with Crow to wrap her arm around his shoulders and pull him close. "And now, Crow's my new gay best friend!! We're going to go through it all together!! It'll be rough, but it'll be fun!!"

"Congrats, Blitz, for finally growing a pair." Taka said, patting the bluenette on the back.

"So you finally ended up knocking up a girl," Nerve said. "Nii-san's been pervy!"

"Oh, this wasn't accidental," Hikaru said. "We planned it carefully."

"It takes more than unprotected sex or a broken condom to end up pregnant," Martha said.

"Yeah. We had to figure out when I was ovulating and all of that fun stuff," Hikaru said. Her human hand then rested on her belly. "And now it's going to pay off! I thought it would have taken months of trying, but we Fudos must be pretty damn fertile!"

"To end up with there being five of us born from two women, yes," Genji said.

"I still wonder if Papa was a pimp," Hikaru said, blowing hair from her face.

"Aka-chan," Genji began as Hikari sat down at the table with a bottle. "Is Yusei awake yet?"

"Iie," Hikari said, shaking her head as she gave Akira his bottle. That made him stop crying. "He hasn't woken up last night. Not sense the hypnosis required him to."

"Hypnosis? What are you talking about?" Genji asked.

"You know what I mean," Hikari responded.

"Huh?" Hikaru blinked.

"... For some reason, I didn't end up forgetting the memory..." Hikari said.

"You were unaffected?" Mikage asked.

"Hai..." Hikari responded. "Deep down, I really didn't want to forget it. I didn't."

"How come?" Hikaru asked.

"... I would have felt too empty without knowing it... I want to keep it." Hikari responded. "I've been able to live with it so far, so why should I forget it all together? I thought it would have been better for Yusei if we both forgot it, so it would fade into nothing one day, so he could get better... but my will wouldn't let me."

"Kari..." Genji uttered. He then let out a breath before he smiled. "I always knew you were one tough cookie."

Hikari smiled back at him, laying Akira on her shoulder to burp him.

"You seem pretty tired, Lil' Light." Hikaru said.

"Tenpei couldn't really sleep, and since I got worried about him, I couldn't sleep, either." Hikari responded. "He's worried about how Miss Sayu is taking his disappearance."

"Didn't he leave her a letter?" Hikaru asked.

"Yes he did, but he's worried about her." Hikari said. "First his father left, and now he left. Even though he made it clear to her he will come back, he can't help but wonder how she will handle this."

"Uh... okay, I think I am completely lost."

"Hm?" Hikaru lifted her head, looking at the doorway. Yusei stood there, one of his hands on the wall, still clad in his pajamas. The pajamas were light blue with pink dragons on them.

"Where am I?..." Yusei asked. "And... how did you all get here?..."

"Yusei..." Hikaru began. "What can you remember?"

Yusei lifted up his other hand, placing it on his face.

"Wasn't I... wasn't I just waking up in the garage?" Yusei asked.

"You've been disoriented for the longest time," Crow responded. "What can you remember?"

"I can only remember..." Yusei clenched his hand on his face. "... I was alone in the dark for the longest time..."

"Daijobu, daijobu..." Hikaru said, embracing the boy just before he began to sob. "That's all gone, now..."

_"I'm... I'm an idiot..."_ Yusei whispered, clinging to Hikaru tightly.

"Iie... you're no idiot," Genji said in an oddly soft voice.

"It's okay, it's okay..." Hikaru said, Yusei's head resting on her shoulder. One of her hands rubbed his back, the other laid on the back of his hair. "We'll never be apart..."

Shaking and sniffling, Yusei buried his eyes into the juncture of her neck and shoulder.

_"Arigatou..."_ he whispered. _"Arigatou, Hikaru..."_ She held him tighter, and he did the same to her. _"Hikaru..."_

* * *

"Fucking ow..."

Hikaru had her metal hand reached to her back, rubbing near her shoulder blades.

"This is just peachy..." Hikaru sighed, giving up and bringing her arm back down. "My back feels funny."

"Karu, you might want to look at this..."

Hikaru looked over at Genji who stood behind Hikari. She approached them.

"What is it?" Hikaru asked.

"Look at what I just found on Kari's back," Genji said, pulling down Hikari's shirt by its collar.

"Holy shit!!"

Upon the small girl's back were what appeared to be very small, white-feathered wings. Like the wings of an angel. They couldn't have been any bigger than the size of a bird's own wings.

"Genji... is my back..."

Hikaru could only wait as Genji checked her back.

"'Fraid so..."

* * *

"This is all starting to defy the laws of physics..." Jack said, a hand on his hip.

"What the hell do you know about physics?" Blitz asked. "The most you've done with a book is hit me with one."

"What's been changing?" Genji asked, not hearing the comments from the peanut gallery as he passed, a hand on his chin.

"Okay, Genji, seriously. You're starting to creep me out." Hikaru said.

"Karu, burdens and happiness; they have something to do with you and Kari." Genji said. "That much we can tell from when you fainted..."

"Do you mean-"

"I mean both times!!" Genji responded. "First when you and Yusei fainted, then when you and Kari fainted!!"

"Well there's no need to yell," Hikaru said.

"Of course, of course!! That's it!!" Genji said. "Karu, it's making sense!!"

"Not unless you tell us!" Lua said.

"Lua," Luka said, glaring at him to calm down.

"It's the Signers!!" Genji said. "When you sang to Yusei over the phone and in unconsciousness, it made the others' birthmarks glow!!"

"I sang last night, too," Hikaru chuckled. "Twice. Nothing happened,"

"Because the Signers were already together," Genji said, holding up a finger. "Hikaru, don't you see?" he asked, placing his hands on her shoulders. "Rally was right! You are Happiness, and Hikari is Burdens!!"

"But the fortune telling lady only said burdens and happiness were missing from Yusei's life!" Tenshi said.

"Am I going to have to be oblivious to my own life, now?" Yusei asked.

"For now," Genji said quickly. "You girls have got to sing." he told the two.

"If I was the only one who made an impact, what does Hikari have to do with it?" Hikaru asked, raising an eye brow.

"Because she hasn't sung yet," Genji said. "You two are the ones with the wings and the voices of angels! Put two and two together!"

"Two plus two is four!" Tenshi said.

"Why do I have such a headache?" Aki asked, shaking her head, her hand on her forehead.

"Genji tends to not make much sense," Jack responded. "He's nuts. He put a pillow over my face when I was asleep to wake me up, and then when I was awake he said he wasn't trying to suffocate me."

"Genji, we have to put down this silliness!" Aki said. "If you don't remember, there are Dark Signers to take care of!"

"My Kiryu-kun being one of them..." Crow said, trying to hold back crying again. He kept one of his hands on his stomach.

"I wouldn't be so inquisitive, Aki-Nee-chan," Luka said. "Genji-Nii-san has brought up some points. And Hikaru and Hikari are Yusei only fully-blooded family members left alive. That gives them a strong connection."

"Especially considering Onee-chan had to have her real arm removed so it would stop hurting her," Rally said. "All because of Nii-san's birthmark!"

"My head is spinning..." Yusei said, holding his head in his hands. He was still dressed in his pajamas.

"Oh yeah, Yusei, before I forget," Crow began. "Karu and I are pregnant."

"I think I need to lie down..."

"I think you two should trying singing," Genji said, looking at both of his sisters with crossed arms.

"I think Genji's right," Luka said.

"I agree with the psycho." Jack said.

"... Well," Aki gave a sigh. "What do we have to lose?"

"What do you say, girls?" Genji asked them.

Akira began crying not a moment later. Immediately, Hikari rocked him and hummed and hushed.

"Lil' Light, how about we try one of our Lion King covers?" Hikaru asked, turning to her sister.

"Well... which one?" Hikari asked.

"Can it be our Zira one?" Hikaru asked, bouncing on her feet excitedly. "C'mon, I wanna try my shot at her evilness!"

"It does sound kinda fun... and hopefully, it'll put Akira to sleep." Hikari said.

"Kay! You start it off!"

"Hush, my little one. You must be exhausted..."

Hikari: _**Sleep, my sweet Akira.  
Let your dreams take wing.  
One day when you're big and strong,  
You will be a King.**_

Hikaru: _**I've been exiled, persecuted,  
Left alone with no defense.  
When I think of what that brute did,  
I get a little tense.**_

Hikari: _**But I dream a dream so pretty,  
That I don't feel so depressed.  
Cause it soothes my inner kitty,  
And it helps me get some rest.**_

Hikaru: **_The sound of Simba's dying gasp,  
His daughter squealing in my grasp,  
His lionesses' mournful cry,  
That's my lullaby!_**

**_Now the past, I've tried forgetting,  
And my foes, I could forgive.  
Trouble is, I knows it's petty,  
But I hate to let them live._**

Hikari: _**So you found yourself somebody,  
Who'd chase Simba up a tree!**_

Hikaru: _**Oh, the battle may be bloody,  
But that kind of works for me.**_

_**The melody of angry growls,  
A counterpoint of painful howls,  
A symphony of death, oh my!  
That's my lullaby!**_

_**Papa's gone...  
But Karu's still around,  
To love this little lad,  
Till he learns to be a killer,  
With a lust for being bad!**_

Hikari: _**Sleep, you precious little thing.  
One day when you're big and strong,**_

Hikaru: _**You will be a King!**_

_**The pounding of the drums of war,  
The thrill of Akira's mighty roar!**_

Hikari: _**The joy of vengeance!  
Testify!**_

Hikaru: _**I can hear the cheering,**_

Hikari: _**Akira! What a guy!**_

Hikaru and Hikari: _**Payback time is nearing,  
And then our flag will fly,  
Against a blood-red sky...  
That's my... lullaby!**_

"That was weird..." Luka said.

"It's what we call a 'work in progress'..." Hikaru said, sweat-dropping.

"I don't think she meant the song," Aki said.

"I meant, things felt different when you were singing." Luka said. "As twisted as the lyrics were at points, Hikari seemed to calm things, and then Hikaru soothed them over."

"It makes sense!" Hikaru said. "Kari, you like to make people feel better, and by doing that, you take away their burdens!"

"And Sissy-cha, you love to make people happysu!" Hikari said.

"I mostly prefer to do that through hugs and through song!"

"Don't we know it?" almost everyone said at the same time.

"Then Kari and I shall be," Hikaru began, taking her sister's hand. "The Signers' Angels!!"

"How original..." Jack mumbled.

"Like _New Team Satisfaction_ was so great, Nii-san..." Rally said.

"I think that might be pushing things a bit too far right now, Sissy-cha..." Hikari said, adjusting the other arm of hers that was so gosh darn busy trying not to drop Akira. "We have no idea what could become of us yet. All of this Signer stuff is unpredictable..."

"She's right, you know, Karu," Genji said. "Right now, I'm only counting Tenshi and myself lucky that we weren't dragged into this like you both. Kami knows what could happen to you..."

"... Something just occured to me..." Hikaru blinked.

"What?"

"What if there's a song we sing that brings out the Crimson Dragon?" Hikaru asked.

"What song could do that?" Genji asked.

"Wait!! What about the one Onee-chan can't remember the ending to?!" Rally asked.

"That song, Rallys?" Hikaru asked.

"Try singing it! I think you might be on to something!" Jack said.

"Okay, Kari, I'll count us off," Hikaru said. "And one, two, three,"

Hikaru and Hikari: _**There's a song running through my head,  
Something that somebody said...**_

The four Signers gripped their arms when their birthmarks began to glow. Akira remained asleep, his birthmark glowing the brightest.

"It's working!" Genji said.

Hikaru and Hikari: _**"A lovely summer holiday by the sea,"  
That's what they said to me...**_

_**In my mind, I hear the words,  
The prettiest words you've ever heard...  
There is an unforgettable treasure,  
A beautiful gift that has no measure...**_

_**There's a picture that I can see,**_

After a long pause, Yusei blinked.

"Damn it, we still don't have the final lyric..." Hikaru said, running her hand through her hair.

"Don't strain yourself on it," Jack said. "There's no use beating around the bush if you don't know. Besides, pushing it might lead to something prematurely..."

"I am not going to deliver this baby prematurely," Hikaru said, placing her hand on her stomach. "I am possibly the healthiest, most vibrant young woman here!"

"Ahem," Aki rolled her eyes.

"What?"

"I mean, if you push yourself to find the lyric before you're supposed to know, something bad could happen." Jack said, sweat-dropping.

"Oooooh... Jackie-chan, you need to be more specific when you talk... or use smaller words."

"Smaller words would help," Yusei said.

"How the hell can Blitz stand you?..."

"Hey, Hikari?"

"Huh?" Hikari looked over at Yusei as a waking up Akira reached up to grasp one of her ponytails. "Yes, Nii-san?"

"Could I talk to you in private for a minute?" he asked as he stood up, a little shaky on his legs.

"Uh... sure thing," Hikari said, her head jerking down to one side as Akira tugged on her hair.

"I'll take the baby," Hikaru said, picking up Akira from Hikari's arms. "I gotta momma myself up for my little developing fetus!"

"Hikaru, you are by-far the strangest girl I have ever met," Aki said as Yusei passed her by.

"Try living in the womb with her," Yusei said.

* * *

"Nii-san, are you okay?" Hikari asked when they were in Yusei's bedroom. "You seem a little out of it."

"Hikari," Yusei began, sitting cross-legged on the bed. He motioned his head for her to sit next to him. Hikari approached the bed, climbing up onto it.

"Daijobu?" Hikari asked.

"I can still..." Slowly, Yusei laid on his side. Hair fell in his face. "I can still remember that night..."

"Nani?" Hikari blinked, gasping. "The hypnosis didn't affect you?"

"I was affected in a different way," Yusei said, one of his hands playing with a bang of his hair. The other hand held Charlie closely to his body. "Rather than waking up feeling nothing but regret and guilt, when I woke up this morning, I felt..."

"Felt what?"

"... I felt rejuvenated... like I'd been reborn..." Yusei said in a low voice. "I woke up this morning feeling so light and weightless... I felt like I could fly. All of that guilt, all of that sadness, all of those feelings were suddenly gone. I can't explain how or why it happened, but..."

"I'm happy,"

"Huh?" Yusei blinked when he found Hikari hugging him by the shoulders, her head tucking beneath his chin. "Nani?"

"Nii-sama is recovering," Hikari said. "If you can keep on holding on, some day... some day you'll be all better. Living with the burdens you bear... it's just one more thing everyone has to do. Forgetting that one small memory forever would have been taking the easy way out; it won't hurt forever..."

"... When you were kidnapped, I told Hikaru..." Yusei said. "How was she... how could she have just?..." He sighed. "I told her not to let me near you anymore. It would have been for the better if-"

"Nii-san, you stop speaking those words right now!"

Yusei blinked, Hikari's eyes looking up into his.

"Mistake or not, we can't change how things happened... no matter what." Hikari said. "All we can do from here is try and create happier memories. One day, none of this will be important anymore. Between us, it was just a special night where nothing else mattered. It is a memory we can't dwell on..."

Yusei let his head down lower when she tucked her head below his chin again. One of Hikari's ears was pressed against his chest, listening to his heart beating.

"Nii-sama, just please... hold on for me?..."

Yusei kissed one of her cheeks in which tears fell onto.

"You were selfless enough to let me try and forget so I could recover..." he whispered. "I'll do anything for you, prescious Chiisana Hikari..."

"Nii-san..." Hikari almost cuddled into his chest. "You're not alone..."

"Hikari..." Yusei cuddled her like they were cats. "Help me... help me find myself..."

* * *

_**To Be Continued...**_

... Well, there's chapter twelve.

Aki: And the songs from this one was _That's My Lullaby_ from the second Lion King movie and _Heidi's Song_ from a Hamtaro movie.

Gash: I'll put up links for the songs...

Aki: I'll bite. What's eating you?

Gash: T-T If I can work things through my writer's block, this story might be over soon... and that's not the worst part.

Zeon: What's the worst part?

Gash: A few characters will have to go away... and that's not the only thing!

Zeon: What else is there?

Gash: I don't have an idea for a sequel yet!

Aki: Maybe catch up with the series to know what's going on and work from there?...

Gash: I'll deal with it later. I'm so damn tired...

Zeon: Insomnia.

Gash: Anywho... I'm logging off for the night. See ya next time. Review please... and I know, the chapter was kind of crappy cuz of my God damned writer's block.

Zeon: Review or die.

Aki: You said that last time...

Zeon: So? It's my favorite threat.


	13. Farewell

_**"Birdie-chan!"**_

A small child was dressed warmly for the cold winter weather. She wore a dark pink sweater, warm leg stockings, a white skirt and a red coat. A light purple scarf was wrapped around her neck, and a fluffy white hat with flaps over her ears was on her head.

She turned around, her blue eyes blinking as she scanned. Her mouth turned into a giant smile as she ran over to a taller girl dressed in a similar fashion.

_**"Berry-chan!"**_

The small child, Birdie, giggled as she embraced the older girl, Berry. Their hats knocked off, Berry catching them in her hand as she held Birdie close to her body. They lifted up into the air, blending in with the white clouds as they flew along. Birdie soon let go of Berry, holding the other girl's free hand as her silver hair blew in the wind behind her. Berry's own long, raven-black hair blew behind her.

**Yusei: "Farewell."**

_**"We're back!"**_

Berry closed the door behind herself and Birdie.

"Satako-chan, how are Yaweh and Eros? Are they still asleep?" Berry asked.

"For the last time, Sister, I told you to call me 'Eli'! 'Satako' is a feminine name!" a boy with black hair said. A small sprig of green hair curled up from close to the top of his head.

"Neh, fine, Eli." Berry said, shrugging her shoulders, gesturing she could care less for calling her brother by the name he wished. "Are Yaweh and Eros still asleep?"

"Yes," Eli responded with a nod. "Papa is watching over them with his life."

"I got them the medicine they need," Berry said, holding up a small package wrapped with white cloth. "I want them to feel much better as soon as possible!"

"Huh?" Eli looked over his shoulder at the sound of rustling. "Papa must be waking up. He must have caught your scents."

_**"Berry-chan? Birdie-chan? Is that you returning?"**_ came an echoing voice.

"Yes, Papa! We've returned!" Birdie called.

_**"Children, come in here please, then!"**_

"Sure thing, Papa!" Berry called. She took Eli's hand as Birdie began to skip over to the doorway, running after her to keep up.

"Hi, Papa!" Birdie greeted when they ran in. "How are Yaweh and Eros feeling?"

"They've been resting all day,"

The red dragon's tongue licked the spiky black-hair with yellow highlights. The boy who the hair belonged to was curled up close to him, his head resting on his stomach.

"Eros slept easily for a while," the dragon said, his mouth not needing to move to talk. "Yaweh, on the other hand, seems restless."

"Twinny-chan must have missed me too much," Berry cooed.

"Welcome back, Big Sister. Little Sister," greeted the boy with light blue-white hair. He sat up against the dragon's neck. "Birdie-chan, how was the play?"

"It was so beautiful," Birdie said as she, Berry and Eli all settled against the dragon's body. "It was called _Romeo And Juliet_. It was written by William Shakespeare, and it was about two star-crossed lovers."

"Did you enjoy it, Conrad?" the dragon asked, his golden eyes looking at the silver-haired girl.

"Very much, Papa," Birdie responded with a smile. "Thank you so much for getting me the ticket."

"Was the play as beautiful as I've heard?"

"Yes, more so than I can even begin to tell," Birdie said, her face softening. "But... Papa?"

"Yes, Conrad-chan?" the dragon asked, giving Yaweh's hair one last grooming lick before he carefully brought his head down to the small girl.

"Why is it that people fight?..." Birdie asked.

"Why do you ask?" he asked.

"... Romeo and Juliet, the two lovers from the play, they..." Birdie began, her arms coming up to hug the dragon. "They were both from feuding families. They had to be in love in secret. Because of this, Romeo was banished from Verona, and then Juliet pretends to be dead so she could escape with him. But in the end, they both end up dying..."

"Aw, my little Birdie..." the dragon cooed, air from his nose gently blowing into the girl's face. She couldn't stop the tears from silently drifting down her cheeks. "Baby girl, don't be sad..."

"I just wish..." Birdie began, resting her head on the dragon's muzzle, her small tears falling onto his oddly soft scales. "I wish that I could help everybody who is sad feel better. I know _Romeo And Juliet_ was a work of fiction, but I wanted to approach every character who had become upset and hurt and just hold them in my arms forever... to let them know the world isn't as bad as it seems."

"Soon enough, my baby bird," the dragon licked the top of her head soothingly. "Soon enough."

"Oh! Eros, before I forget," Berry unwrapped the cloth-wrapped package she held. "I found some medicine for you and Twinny-chan!" She handed him a small bottle filled with light green liquid. "It's an herbal tea. I made sure to get it extra hot so it'd be not too hot and not too cold for when I brought it back here after flight!"

"Herbal tea, Big Sister?" Eros asked, sniffing the liquid before he brought the opening of the bottle to his mouth. He pulled it open with his teeth before he let his head fall back, drinking a few small mouthfuls of the tea. When he brought his head back up straight, his smile was evident as he swallowed the remaining bit of liquid in his mouth. "It tastes really good, Berry! Where'd you find it?"

"A nice lady was selling it in her shop," Berry responded with a smile. "She said Flower Tea - what she named her tea - is good at helping sick people begin to feel better!"

"Strawberry, thank you for going through all of that trouble for me," the dragon said, moving his head over to her. He licked the top of her head affectionately. "I would have gone myself, but your brothers..."

"That's okay, Papa," Berry said, smiling as she hugged the dragon. "I'm glad I could help them feel better."

"Papa, I'm getting kind of hungry..." Birdie said.

"No worries, Conrad-chan," the dragon replied, resting his head in his front legs. "As soon as Yaweh wakes up, I'll go out and get us dinner." He then extended one of his front legs, holding out a shiny, red apple. "Until then, will this hold you over?"

"Sure, Papa!" Birdie responded with a smile, picking up the plump fruit. "I love apples!"

"I always make sure I have plenty of them around because of that." the dragon said.

"Papa?"

"Hm?" The dragon's eyes looked over at Eli. "Yes, Eli-chan?"

"This may sound a little strange, but..." the black-haired boy began. "Do you have a name?"

"A name? Why do you ask?"

"It's customary for humans to have names," Eli responded. "Is the same for dragons and other animals alike?"

"Well," The dragon nestled his head into his front legs comfortably. "We do have names like humans, but we also have human-given names."

"Humans name you when you already have a name?" Birdie asked before she took a bite out of her apple.

"Not all humans understand animal life," the dragon responded. "The name I was given is Riu Chiu."

"Riu Chiu?" Berry asked.

"It's Spanish for 'roaring river'," the dragon responded. "I was named it because 'riu' is pronounced similar to one of the Japanese words for dragon; 'ryu'."

"So, Ryu is your name?" Eli asked.

"Yes," the dragon, Ryu, responded. "My human-given name, however, is Crimson Dragon."

"Crimson... Dragon?" Eli asked.

"Yes," Ryu responded. "'Crimson' is a word for red."

"I love the color red!" Birdie pipped before taking another bite of her apple.

"And yet," Ryu began, his head hovering over her. "All the clothes you wear are almost always bright colors like pink." he said before giving the top of her head a lick.

"Her cuteness just makes up for it all!" Berry said, her arms wrapped around Birdie as she munched on her sweet fruit. "She likes apples, which are red, and she likes strawberries, too! Strawberry is my name! Strawberries are red!"

"I think the only red thing she doesn't like is red cabbage," Eli chuckled.

"I won't eat vegetables at all!" Birdie whined, giving her puppy dog eyes. "They taste yucky-ducky!"

"We all have our dislikes, Satako..." Ryu said.

"Don't call me 'Satako'!" Eli snapped.

_"Mm... hmmm..."_ Yaweh moaned in his sleep. The arms he rested his head in reached their hands to his face as he rolled onto his back. He rubbed at his eyes tiredly as he gave a large yawn. Shortly after, his eyes opened. _"Nyah?..."_ he groaned as he sat up, the spikes of his hair falling around his face.

"Ah, Yaweh! Glad to see you're awake now!" Eli said with a smile.

"I brought you medicine!" Berry said, holding out the second bottle of Flower Tea to him.

"Th-thank you, Strawberry..." he responded, taking the bottle from her hands.

"Don't worry, it tastes good!" Eros said.

"Alright," Ryu began, carefully standing his long body up. "I'll run and fetch us dinner. Don't leave the mountain," he told them.

"Yes, Papa." Berry said as Ryu walked his long body out of the bedroom.

"Eli, you're in charge while I'm gone. You're the eldest,"

"Only by three months, Papa! Jeez..." Berry said.

"I shouldn't be gone for too long," Ryu said, wriggling out the door, spreading his wings as he flew up into the sky. The door closed after him.

"I hope Papa will be safe," Birdie said, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.

"Papa is always safe," Eros said.

"And Papa is so fierce and strong!" Berry added. "He always comes back!"

"You're right, Sissy-cha." Birdie said with a smile.

"I still feel really tired," Yaweh said, his head laying on Berry's shoulder. "My wings feel really sore, too... I can't explain why..."

"Here," Berry said, pulling Yaweh into her arms. Her black-feathered wings then enveloped the both of them. "Right here underneath my wings, you can rest your head." she whispered to him, tucking his head beneath her chin. She rocked him like a baby, softly humming to him. Soon after, it lulled him to sleep.

* * *

_"Strawberry..."_

_**"Yusei... Yusei! Wake up! You're..."**_

_"... Get away from me..."_

"Huh?" Jack blinked, shaking Yusei by the shoulders. **_"Yusei, wake up! You're bleeding!!"_**

_"Strawberry..."_ Yusei sobbed in unconsciousness.

_**"Wake up!"**_ Jack smacked Yusei in the cheek. _**"Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!"**_

_"... Kill me faster..."_

_**"YUSEI!!!"**_

With a scream, Yusei sat up, his arm immediately wrapping around Jack. As a result, Jack almost lost his breath when he had to steady his body. Yusei shook, clinging to the larger boy tightly.

_"Jack?..."_ Yusei's voice shook.

"Ye-yeah... it's me," Jack responded, his eyes catching the big red blotch on the back of Yusei's pajama top. "Yusei... your back's bleeding..."

_"Jack..."_ Jack felt the heat boiling beneath his skin and radiating off of him as Yusei almost snuggled his head into his neck and shoulder. He was glad it was dark; Yusei couldn't see his red face. _"I'm scared..."_

"Nani? What of?" Jack asked, picking Yusei up by beneath his legs. Yusei held onto him so tightly he didn't need to support his back.

_"I don't want to be alone..."_ Yusei sniffled as Jack carried him down the hallway, heading to the bathroom.

"Alone?" Jack questioned as he sat Yusei on the edge of the bathtub. "Why on Earth do you have to be afraid of that?" he asked as he closed the door. "You're never going to be alone, Yusei. There are too many of us who care about you," He turned on the sink, soaking a cloth beneath the water. "There's Crow, Martha, your siblings, the Three Amigos plus Rally, and me, too. You should know that..."

Yusei blinked, feeling his cheeks tint to pink when Jack's hands reached around him and unbuttoned his pajama shirt.

"E-eh... Jack? What are you doing?"

"You're bleeding," Jack responded. "There's a huge stain on your shirt, if you don't believe me..."

"Bleeding?..." Yusei asked before he winced, feeling a throbbing pain run down his backside.

"Hikaru and Hikari aren't the only ones with wings anymore," Jack said, pulling Yusei's shirt off. He tossed it into the laundry hamper. "After you went to bed, they magically sprouted out of Genji's back and Tenshi's, too."

"How did you?..." Yusei began before the cloth met his back.

"I decided to be nice to Crow since he's pregnant," Jack began. "He roomed with Rally instead of me again, saying as he felt like he really needed to cuddle something. Rally saved me from that... so, I took the futon on the floor."

"The futon? Why? The bed has plenty of space," Yusei said, hissing in pain and ducking down when Jack ran the cloth over one of the two small, developing, white-feathered wings on his back.

"Sorry," Jack said, placing his hand on Yusei's shoulder. "And, well, I didn't want to wake you up. After hearing how hard of a time you'd been having sleeping, I didn't want to risk waking you up."

"Jack," Yusei began, his voice still softly tinged with pain. Slowly, he sat back up a bit straighter. "Could you share the bed with me?"

"I think I'm a little too big to be in it with you..." Jack responded, laughing lightly.

"But..." Yusei took in a deep breath and let it out. "Could we cuddle? Like when we were kids?..."

"... Why do you ask all of a sudden?" Jack asked, dampening another cloth and tossing the first into the hamper.

"We've always been close friends," Yusei responded. "And I... I really don't want to be alone." His shoulders shook for a moment, but then he managed to calm himself from shaking because it sent pain down his back due to the inhuman body parts growing in-between his shoulders. After Jack wiped his back clean, he turned around, nearly flinging onto the older boy. "_Jack... please..."_ he whispered. _"Hold on to me, and never let me go..."_

* * *

_"Yaweh... Yaweh..."_

_**Groaning lightly, Yusei's eyes cracked open.**_

_"Mmm... hm?"** He rubbed his eye with his left hand as he saw his glowing birthmark.**_

_"Yaweh... it's Papa..."** spoke a soft, echoing voice.**_

_"Huh?..."_

_"What is your name now, Yaweh?..."_

_"Fu-Fudo... Fudo Yusei..."_

_"Yusei... I've got it."_

_**In the pitch black, Yusei closed his eyes again as it felt like his hair was being stroked.**_

_"Sleep, now, precious child... little Yusei... Yaweh..."_

* * *

Ryu curled his body around the sleepy children. Their bodies were covered with one big blanket in the middle of him. He felt his body warm as he saw they were all cuddled closely together, wings wrapping around each others bodies. He rested his head down beside their bodies.

Ryu: _**Good night, my angel,  
Time to close your eyes,  
And save these questions for another day.  
I think I know what you've been asking me,  
I think you know what I've been trying to say.  
I promised I would never leave you,  
Then you should always know,  
Wherever you may go,  
No matter where you are,  
I never will be far away.**_

Birdie yawned sleepily, unable to keep her eyes open.

Ryu: _**Good night my angel,  
Now it's time to sleep,  
And still so many things I want to say.  
Remember all the songs you sang for me,  
When we went sailing on an emerald bay?  
And like a boat out on the ocean,  
I'm rocking you to sleep.  
The water's dark and deep,  
Inside this ancient heart,  
You'll always be a part of me.**_

Yaweh snuggled into Berry as Ryu hummed gently.

Ryu: _**Good night, my angel,  
Now it's time to dream,  
And dream how wonderful your life will be.  
Someday your child may cry,  
And if you sing this lullaby,  
Then in your heart,  
There will always be a part of me.**_

_"Papa..."_ Birdie whispered. _"Will you be here in the morning?..."_

Ryu: _**Someday we'll all be gone,  
But lullabys go on and on...  
They never die,  
That's how you and I will be...**_

Ryu didn't answer Birdie's question. They were already asleep.

* * *

_**"Jack, Jack!! Wake upsu!!"**_

_"I'll do it in the morning..."_ Jack groaned, his brow furrowing.

"**_It _is_ morningsu!!..._** Er, well..." Hikari shook him lighter. "It's four am."

_"Eh?"_ Jack groaned, his eyes slowly slipping open. "What are you doing awake?"

"Jack," she began, sitting on the edge of the bed. "I just had a vision within my dream."

"A vision?" Jack asked, sitting up and forgetting Yusei had been clinging to him.

_"Eeeeerghhhhh..."_ Yusei whined, his arms loosely wrapping around Charlie. After a few moments he calmed down, sleeping peacefully again.

"Jack... you saw Godwin's severed arm, right?" Hikari asked. "Tell me, I need to know... was it a left arm, or a right arm?"

"Left or right? What does that have to do with-"

"Please, I need to know!" Hikari said, locking eyes with him.

"Y-you're..." Jack's mouth was hanging open slightly. "You're crying?"

"Please..." Hikari sniffled.

"Let me think..." Jack said, rolling up his sleeves as he looked down. "A left arm is just like..." He looked at his left hand palm-down, his right hand palm-up. "I never noticed that before! It was a left arm and not a right!"

"So it's..." Hikari whispered. "It's true..."

"Nani?" Jack asked, looking up at her.

"... Ryu was right..."

"Ryu?"

"... Ryu is the Crimson Dragon's real name," Hikari said. "It's short for 'Riu Chiu'."

"The Crimson Dragon came to you in a vision?" Jack asked.

"Call him 'Ryu'! It's what his mother named him!" Hikari said.

"R-right... Ryu came to you?"

"Jack," Hikari locked eyes with him again. "Akira... he was nothing but Godwin's puppet!"

"Huh?" The blonde blinked. "What do you mean?"

"It's true," Hikari said, turning her head away. "I... I was only his surrogate mother. Well... I was his mother somehow, but... by blood, we still have no idea who his father is! Tenpei-kun did more than his fair share by stepping up to be his father, but..."

"Are you going through some sort of post-par tom?" Jack asked.

"I'm fine!" Hikari responded. "But Akira has to..." She shook, burying her face in her hands. "He has to..."

"He has to what?"

_**"Akira has to die!!"**_

* * *

Hikari hiccuped as Jack poured them tea.

"Calm yourself down, okay? There's a lot we all need to sort through..." Jack said, sliding a cup over to her. "First of all, tell me everything that happened in your vision."

"Hai..." Hikari said softly. She took a small sip from her cup. "I heard someone calling my name... it was Ryu. He called me Conrad and Birdie at first before he asked me what my name was. I told him it was Fudo Hikari, and then he curled around me and began to groom my hair with his tongue."

"What happened after that?" Jack asked.

"... Jack," Hikari looked up at him with hair blocking her burning eyes. "I'm the reincarnation of a girl from the twenty-first century. Her name was Conrad Birdie, after the character from _Bye Bye Birdie_. Her siblings are my siblings, too. Hikaru is Strawberry, or Berry's reincarnation, Genji is Satako Eli's, Tenshi is Eros', and Yusei is Yaweh's. Ryu... Ryu was our papa."

"Your father was a dragon in your past life?" Jack asked.

"He was a surrogate," Hikari responded. "But, they had no memories of their real parents, and Eli and Eros were both only half-blooded siblings of the twins and Birdie. It all matches up too well to be a coincidence..."

"So, things are similar to now?"

"But..." Hikari began. "In that vision, all of us were the Five Dragon Signers. Yaweh was the tail, Tenshi was the wings, Birdie was the hindclaw, Berry the foreclaw, and Eli the head."

"Hm? Then why aren't you all the current Signers?" Jack asked.

"Reincarnations are one thing... Yaweh managed to hold onto his sign, so it was passed onto Yusei, but..." Hikari picked her head up. "Kiryu should be here in the morning. The Dark Signers are gone for good... Rudger's been defeated."

"Huh?" Jack blinked. "How did that?..."

"Ryu did it." Hikari responded. "In the process, he was able to save Kiryu. As a result, though... Akira has to go."

"How can you sit there and do nothing?" Jack asked. "This is your child!"

"I love Akira enough to let him go!" Hikari said. "Ryu told me... he told me that I've done my fair share of parenting for now. Once everything is over, I'll be back to being a normal little girl, a normal baby sister."

"How can you just take it like that?" Jack asked.

"... I was as good a mother as I could be for Akira..." Hikari responded. "But... truthfully, I'm still a baby myself. I'll be his momma again some day... when Tenpei and I conceive on our own. That's when I'll truly be ready..."

"... You know," Jack placed his cup down. "We'll all miss him very much."

"Akira was meant to live a short life..." Hikari responded. "Ryu was able to help me understand that much... but, no matter how short, his life was precious. He impacted the life of everyone who looked at him."

"... You're acting oddly unchildishly about this..."

"Fate is set in stone," Hikari responded. "Nothing else can be done."

* * *

_**"I don't want Akira to go, Kari!! I don't want him to go!!"**_

Hikari kept her head down, somehow able to walk with Hikaru nearly being dragged behind her.

"Nothing can be done..." Hikari said in a low tone.

"Kari..." Genji looked down at her. "I'm sorry..."

"... I knew things were getting too good to be true a while ago," Hikari said. "... This is for the best..."

"I can't believe this..." Tenpei whispered.

"You okay, Ten-chan?" Lua asked.

"Hikari, I don't understand what's going on," Aki said. "What do you have to do?"

"We angels have to release the true fifth Signer." Hikari said. "It might be Tenshi or Genji, or Hikaru or me, or any other one of us here right now." She picked her head up, reaching one hand out to the doorknob. "I know who it is... but I have been told not to reveal who it is."

"Okay Kari, you're starting to creep me out." Genji said as they stepped outside.

"What the-" Jack cut himself off.

There Kiryu was. Pushing his black and blue D-Wheel, he came to a halt. Looking up, he blinked when he saw familiar faces standing out on the porch of the house.

"I told you he'd be back today," Hikari said.

_**"Kiryu!!"**_ Crow hopped the porch railing, breaking into a run.

_**"Kiryu!!"**_ Jack and Yusei followed after the younger boy, running towards their old team leader.

_**"Kiryu!!"**_ Crow threw his arms around the taller boy, nearly knocking him over. Unable to hold back sobs came up his throat. "Kiryu, I missed you... I missed you so much!!..." He buried his face in Kiryu's shoulder as the bluenette returned his hug. "I never thought I'd be able to see you again..."

"Crow... it's okay... I'm here..." Kiryu said.

"Kiryu, are you okay?" Jack asked.

"Yeah," Kiryu responded.

"Can you remember anything from being a Dark Signer?..." Yusei asked.

"Yeah,"

"... Do you still... you still don't blame me for?..."

"What? Of course not!" Kiryu said.

_**"DAMN IT, PAY ATTENTION TO ME YOU ASSHOLE!!!"**_ Crow shrieked, smacking Kiryu in the chest repeatedly.

"So-sorry!!" Kiryu said, holding Crow closer to him than before.

"And now, I can tell you I'm pregnant!"

_**"- Huuuuuuuuuuuuuuh?!"**_ Kiryu froze.

"That's what you get for dancing the naked tango." Jack said.

_"Smart ass..."_ Kiryu growled.

* * *

"... So... I guess this is goodbye..." Hikaru said.

Hikari could only nod, setting Akira down onto the ground. He was wrapped in a red blanket and he slept peacefully.

"What do we have to do?" Genji asked.

"I sing to him one last time," Hikari said. "Then the Signers and Fudos form a circle around him, patterning Signer and Fudo. Together, _Riu Chiu_ must be sung..."

"... When ever you're ready, Lil' Light..." Hikaru said, placing her human hand on Hikari's shoulder.

Shaking slightly, Hikari picked Akira back up, holding him closely to her, even when he woke up and began to cry. She began to hum.

Hikari: _**Hush, child, the darkness will rise from the deep, and,  
Carry you down into sleep, child.  
Darkness will rise from the deep, and,  
Carry you down into sleep...**_

_**Guileless son,  
I'll shape your belief,  
And you'll always know,  
That your father's a theif.  
And you won't understand,  
The cause of your grief,  
But you'll always follow,  
The voices beneath...**_

_**Loyalty... Loyalty... Loyalty... Loyalty...  
Loyalty... Loyalty... Loyalty...  
Only to me...**_

"Hikari-chan sounds really sad..." Rally whispered as she sung.

Hikari: _**Guileless son,  
Your spirit will hate her.  
The flower who married  
My brother, the traitor.  
And you will expose,  
His puppeteer behavior,  
For you are the proof,  
Of how he betrayed,  
Her loyalty...**_

_**Loyalty... Loyalty... Loyalty...  
Loyalty... Loyalty... Loyalty...  
Only to me...**_

_**Hush, child, the darkness will rise from the deep, and,  
Carry you down into sleep, child.  
Darkness will rise from the deep, and,  
Carry you down into sleep...**_

Akira hummed, yawning tiredly. His eyes were still somewhat open.

Hikari: _**Guileless son,  
Each day you grow older,  
Each moment I'm watching,  
My vengeance unfold...  
The child of my vibe,  
The flesh of my soul,  
Will die in returning,  
The birthright he stole...**_

_**Loyalty... Loyalty... Loyalty... Loyalty...  
Loyalty... Loyalty... Loyalty...  
Only to me...**_

Akira was at the thinning line between consciousness and sleep.

Hikari: _**Hush, child, the darkness will rise from the deep, and,  
Carry you down into sleep, child.**_

Hikari laid Akira down on the ground again. Her hand pet his hair a few times, playing with his one curling cowlick.

Hikari: _**Darkness will rise from the deep, and,  
Carry you down into sleep...**_

After what seemed like hours of time, Hikari's finger just petting and playing with that one little curl, she had to stand back up. Slowly, she took her place in between Hikaru and Luka in the circle.

"Hold hands," Hikari whispered.

Hands interlocked, forming a human circle around the slumbering baby.

"Angel boys, all together, all boys, all together." Hikari instructed.

"Lead it off, Nii-san," Tenshi said, looking over at the hair-dyed boy.

Genji, Yusei and Tenshi: _**Riu riu chiu, la guarda ribera.  
Dios guardo el lobo de nuestra cordera.  
Dios guardo el lobo de neustra cordera.**_

Signers and Angels: _**Riu riu chiu, la guarda ribera.  
Dios guardo el lobo de nuestra cordera.  
Dios guardo el lobo de neustra cordera.**_

Boys: _**El lobo rabioso la quiso morder,  
Mas Dios poderoso la supo defender.  
Quisola hazer que no pudiese pecar,  
Ni aun original esta Virgen no tuviera.**_

Signers and Angels: _**Riu riu chiu, la guarda ribera.  
Dios guardo el lobo de nuestra cordera.  
Dios guardo el lobo de neustra cordera.**_

Boys: _**Este qu'es nacido es el gran monarca,  
Christo, patriarca, de carne vestido.  
Hemos redemido con se hazer chiquito,  
Aunqu'era infinito, finito se hiziera.**_

Signers and Angels: _**Riu riu chiu, la guarda ribera.  
Dios guardo el lobo de nuestra cordera.  
Dios guardo el lobo de neustra cordera.**_

Hikari's head hung low, tears brimming over her eye lids as a radiant light appeared from Akira. Crying was heard... pain-filled crying.

_**"- AAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!"**_

_**"Setsuna-Nii-san!!"**_ Tenshi exclaimed as his brother collapsed onto his knees, his hands fisting.

**_"Genji!!"_** Hikaru knelt down, pulling him onto her lap. "What's going on?!"

"He is the true fifth Signer," Hikari whispered. "Truth be told, Akira was an extention of himself."

_"... Setsuna-Nii-san is?..."_ Tenshi then wrapped his arms around his brother tightly. _**"Nii-san, where does it hurt?!"**_

_**"Everywhere... everywhere!!"**_ Genji screeched, writhing in Hikaru's arms.

_"Satako..."_

Hikari kept her head down as the red-scaled dragon appeared before the Signers and Angels.

"Satako... Satako Eli..." Ryu's tongue licked the top of Genji's hair, his small, original curling cowlick poking up. It was shiner and less dull-colored compared to the dyed hair. "What is your name?"

_"Fudo..."_ Genji whispered, his writhing dying down. _"Fudo... Setsuna Genji..."_

_**"STOP IIIIIIIIIIIT!!!"**_

_**"Conrad-chan!!"**_ Ryu's golden eyes caught Hikari as she ran into the white wind vortex. _**"You'll be killed!!"**_

_**"DON'T TAKE AKIRA AWAY!!!"**_ Hikari embraced the crying baby, crying herself.

"He's already dead," Ryu said.

Ryu's pupils narrowed when Hikari screamed.

_**"HIKARI!!!"**_ Hikaru shouted.

_**"Mina-chan!!"**_ Rally exclaimed.

Hikaru's eyes widened when she saw the bluenette woman break away from the crowd of patrons, running towards the vortex.

**_"Mina-chan!! What are you doing?!"_** Hikaru called.

_**"I may barely know this child,"**_ Mikage began. _**"But I will not sit back and watch her die!!"**_

_**"Mina-chan..."**_ Hikaru uttered. _**"MINA-CHAAAAAN!!!"**_ she shouted when the bluenette woman jumped into the vortex.

Hikari continued to shriek when Mikage embraced her. She thrashed around, screaming and crying in pain.

"What's she doing?" Tenshi asked.

"She's..." Hikaru began. "She's saving her."

Mikage: _**Oh, the waves roll low,  
And the waves roll high.**_

Hikari's eyes slipped open, looking up at Mikage with helpless, teary eyes. Slowly, the vortex began to fade away.

Mikage: _**And so it goes,  
Under a bright blue,  
Endless sky.**_

_**Waves try to measure,  
The days that we treasure.  
Wave hello,  
And wave goodbye.**_

Blue eyes closed when remnants of the white-winded vortex disappeared.

_"Mina-chan..."_ Hikari whispered weakly. She coughed weakly. After a few hacks, she leaned to the side, ending up hacking blood.

_**"Hikari!!"**_ Hikaru exclaimed. Deciding to run over, she picked up Genji and held him in her arms effortlessly - mostly due to the strength her robot arm provided her - and ran.

_**"Imoto-chan!!"**_ Tenshi said, following after his sister.

_"Hikari..."_ Yusei took a moment to unfreeze before, with nearly too much adrenaline, he raced over, approaching Hikari and Mikage before the others.

_**"Lil' Light, are you okay?!"**_ Hikaru exclaimed.

"She'll be alright," Ryu said. "She just underwent an incredible amount of stress all at once."

"Mina-chan," Hikaru began as Genji's right hand gripped his left wrist. Mikage picked her head up as she lifted Hikari into her arms. "One-hundred thousand thank yous would never add up to how grateful we are..."

_"What... what made you do it?..."_ Genji asked, looking up at her as the dragon's head birthmark glowed on his left arm.

"What can I say?" she began. "She certainly is something special."

Ryu leaned his head down, brushing his nose against the top of Hikari's head.

"Thank you, Mikage, for saving her." Ryu said. From Hikari's hands, his mouth picked up the small red blanket left behind by Akira. "Setsuna Genji,"

"Huh?" Genji said as Hikaru placed him onto his feet. Ryu dropped the blanket over his head. "Nani?"

"You haven't changed one bit," Ryu said as Genji pulled the blanket off of his head. "You're the same as you were in the past as Satako Eli."

"So you even had a girly name back then," Hikaru said as Genji stared down at the red blanket.

"I... I don't understand this..." Genji said.

"Genji, Akira was merely an extention of yourself." Ryu said. "And that blanket... it belongs to you."

"Hikaru..." Genji began, holding up the blanket with his unmarked hand. "I think I remember..."

"That song..." Hikaru whispered. Closing her eyes, she placed her hands over her heart.

Hikaru: _**There's a song running through my head,  
Something that somebody said...  
"A lovely summer holiday by the sea,"  
**__**That's what they said to me...**_

_**In my mind, I hear the words,  
The prettiest words you've ever heard...  
There is an unforgettable treasure,  
A beautiful gift that has no measure...**_

_**There's a picture that I can see,  
A large oak tree is calling me...**_

"Our memories..." Genji said, his eyes glazed over.

_**"We can remember!!"**_ Hikaru exclaimed, pulling Yusei in a tight hug. _**"I can remember potty training and singing and Momma and Papa and Auntie Hoshiko, too!!"**_

_"I can't believe it..."_ Tenshi said.

_"I can't breathe..."_ Yusei said, his face stuck on Hikaru's chest.

_**"Hikari!!"**_

Hikaru looked over her shoulder, blinking as she saw Tenpei and Blitz running toward them.

_**"Is she okay; is Hikari okay?!"**_ Tenpei asked, his hands latching onto Mikage's arms.

"I think all she needs right now is rest," Mikage said, kneeling down so Tenpei could reach her.

"Mina-chan, arigatou," Tenpei said, hugging both the girl he loved and the woman who saved her.

"How cute are they?" Hikaru giggled, her head resting on Blitz's shoulder.

"Uh... Karu?" Blitz asked, blinking.

"Yes, Blitzy?"

Feeling Blitz touching some part of her body but unsure of what, her head turned and she gasped. Shiny, black-feathered wings. Fully grown in.

"Holy snotsicles..." She spread her arms out along them, almost not believing them to be real. "But before they were just white!"

"That's the color they started out as when they were growing in," Ryu said. "They adjust when they're full."

"I'll say," Tenshi said, his right wing wrapping around half of his body. He stroked the feathers, which were bluish-white to match his hair.

"Well, you can never go wrong with black..." Genji said, his free left hand skimming against his left wing.

"Gold?" Yusei questioned, gently plucking a feather from his wing. He then blinked when he laid it on Charlie in his arms. "Well, what do you know?..." he asked, holding up the feather in one hand, the teddy bear in the other.

_"Mmm... Momma..."_ Hikari whispered, silver feathers poking out from behind her back.

_"Hikari..."_ Tenpei said, placing a hand on her face. _**"Hikari!..."**_

_"Mmm..."_ Hikari moaned, her eye lids wriggling.

"Hikari, daijobu?" Mikage asked as blue eyes slowly opened.

_"M... Momma?..."_ the girl asked tiredly.

"No," Mikage shook her head gently. "I'm Mina-chan, remember?"

_"Mina... chan..."_ Hikari repeated.

"Are you okay?" Tenpei asked as Mikage gently sat her up in her lap.

_"Huh?... What happened, Ten-kun?"_ Hikari asked.

"You don't remember?" Tenpei asked. "Akira... and Genji-san. Akira... Akira is..."

_"... I tried to stop it, didn't I?..."_ she asked, feeling hot tears gathering in her eyes.

"... Y-you did... but you're okay!" Tenpei said, wrapping his arms around her. "You're okay... that's all that matters to me."

_**"... I killed our baby!"**_ Hikari sobbed, beginning to shake as her tears fell.

"You didn't kill him, you didn't!" Tenpei said.

_"I'll never have another child..."_ she whispered. _"I can't go through that again..."_

"Conrad-chan," Ryu placed his head beside the two children. "It's okay..."

_"No it's not..."_ Hikari let go of Tenpei to bury her face in her hands.

"Conrad-chan," Hikari sniffled, almost gasping in surprise when, held by an arm in Ryu's mouth, her eyes laid onto Kaoru. "You had your taste of what it is like to be a grown-up," Ryu began as he placed the teddy bear into Hikari's arms. "It was too much for one little girl like you. In a few years, you'll be ready then."

_"Akira was more than just a puppet to me..."_ she whispered, looking into Kaoru's eyes.

"He may have been created with the purpose of being a puppet," Ryu began. "But because of you, he became much more than it. Besides..." He placed his nose onto her forehead. "Aren't you forgetting he was also Setsuna?"

_**"That's 'Genji'!"**_

"Conrad," Ryu gave her hair a grooming lick. "You'll be fully ready some day."

"... Ryu-sama is right, you know," Tenpei said gently. "Maybe we did take good care of Akira, like parents should... but we have our whole lives ahead of us. Having another baby in the future is an option for us... one day when we're ready, one day when we can face the world without fear. When we're ready... we'll know."

Hikari remained silent for a few long moments. Holding her familiar teddy bear and staring into his eyes, she was almost too quiet to bear.

"Hikari," Hikari gasped lightly as Tenpei laid his hand on her wet, marked cheek. "It'll all be okay... I promise you, I'll never leave you..."

Teary blue eyes closed before arms flung around Tenpei, nearly knocking him over. He wrapped his arms around Hikari, letting their foreheads rest together.

_"I love you..."_ she whispered.

_"Daisuki yo... zutto."_

* * *

_**To Be Continued...**_

(Sniffles before she starts to cry) T__T

Aki: What the hell is wrong with you?

Gash: _**THIS IS THE LAST CHAPTER!!!**_ T____T

Aki: ... It says _**To Be Continued**_, baka!!

Gash: Yeah... (Sniffles) But this is the last chapter!! The only thing that's left is the epilogue!!

Zeon: (Hugs the crying authoress) While Gash-chan is sobbing, I shall explain what went on in this chapter.

Aki: I guess I'll help, too...

Zeon: So, as Hikari said, the Fudo children are all reincarnations. This hit her when she received a review from Kira-Kimi-Moka-Chan while reading the amazing story _Music Box_ by Dark Angel Of Wind. It also has to do with these same Fudo siblings, so we doth command that you all read it!

Aki: What he said. And the names Gash picked aren't random. She picked them carefully. Conrad Birdie for Hikari's because she is very light and pure-hearted... and Gash chose it because _Bye Bye Birdie_ was her school's musical this past year. Strawberry for Hikaru's we can't explain right now because it will be a huge spoiler if we do.

Zeon: And Satako Eli she chose for Setsuna Genji, because Satoko is the name of a Higurashi girl, but she changed the first O sound to an A sound, and Eli is a name that means two things in Hebrew; "ascension" and "my God". Yaweh is Hebrew for "I am what I am" and a name close to it, "Yahweh", is the name of a Hebrew God.

Aki: And Eros is the Greek word for "love", and Eros is the Greek equivalent of Cupid. Eros was also the son of Aphrodite.

Gash: _Zzzz..._

Aki: _**WAKE UP!!!**_

Gash: _**SPIES!!!**_ (Smacks head on wall) _Ouch..._

Zeon: Better?

Gash: Much... (Rubs head) Until I got this big bump...

Aki: Well, we did the work of explaining the past life names. Now you list the songs that were in here!

Gash: Okay!! In order, the songs were _Good Night, My Angel_, also known as _Lullabye_ by Billy Joel, _Mordred's Lullaby_ by Heather Dale, _Riu Chiu_, _Athena's Song_ from _The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning_, and then the ever-known _Heidi's Song_ from Hamtaro! I'll be putting up YouTube urls of the songs soon!!

Aki: This was a very musical chapter...

Gash: Very musical, indeed!!... And I hope none of this was too confusing. ^___^'''

Aki: If it is, who cares?

Gash: I do, because my writer's block gets in the way of stuff...

Zeon: I think it's great.

Gash: ... I feel bad about having to take Akira away from the story, but with him there, nothing was normal. Plus... from the day I wrote the chapter where Hikari found out she was pregnant in the first place, I somewhere knew he couldn't stay for good. I feel like a bitch for this, though...

Aki: Come on, being a bitch isn't all bad.

Gash: Well... since this is dragging on a bit, I'll leave things here. Hopefully the epilogue will make people happy. Things will change... and yes, Jack and Yusei will finally get together in it. And then the sequel... well, I'll explain the sequel at the end of the epilogue.

Zeon: So, that wraps this up.

Gash: Now then, review please. It took me a while to get this as best as I could get it...

Zeon: Review. Now, damn it.


	14. Epilogue: Setsuna's Blanket

_**Hanako**_

_**May God Carry You In His Arms**_

Jack carefully lifted Yusei into his arms. Somehow, the younger boy had managed to fall asleep while looking at the headstone he laid on his side in front of. Charlie was, as usual, still held in his arms.

_Yusei..._

**Yusei: "Epilogue: Setsuna's Blanket."**

"You know... somehow, this all makes sense."

Genji blinked from where he laid on the floor. His left arm was raised so he could stare at the red dragon's birthmark. Sitting up, he settled both of his hands in his lap.

"How can anything make sense anymore, Hikaru? Really?" he asked. "A _dragon_ is our **father!**"

"Surrogate father, Setsuna-Nii-san," Tenshi corrected.

"You're almost too good to be true as the fifth Signer, you know," Hikaru said. "I mean, you barely believed in hocus pocus before any of this started to happen. You're just... unlikely."

"What's so unlikely about me?" Genji asked, picking up his red blanket from beside him on the floor.

"You were always so earth-bound," Hikaru said. "You even said it yourself, remember? Kari is the moon, I'm the sun, and you're the grass."

"Gee, I wonder why?" Nerve asked, eying Genji's hair.

"This is something on a deeper level, Nervu," Genji said, pointing an accusing finger at the brunette. "My hair color is purely a coincidence."

"It isn't even your real color," Tenshi commented.

"What's it supposed to mean?" Lua asked.

"The sun is bright, strong and radiant, just like Hikaru, while the moon shines softer yet is just as beautiful, like Hikari." Genji began. "I never quite fit the stars, and I already placed Tenshi in as them. My name means 'justice', which is something that is earth-bound. I was always much more ordinary than Karu and Kari... they have their singing and musical talents... and boyfriends, too. I haven't even met a girl who like-likes me, and would actually consider even going on a date with me."

"The irony of it all is how it all makes sense!" Hikaru grinned.

"Can you ever use logic that makes sense to everyone else?" Genji asked as Jack walked back in with Yusei in his arms.

"Where was he this time?" Crow asked, looking at Yusei as Jack sat down.

"Hanako's grave," Jack responded, adjusting the slumbering boy in his arms so Yusei's head would rest on his shoulder.

"Who's Hanako?" Aki asked. "An old girlfriend or something?"

"I remember Hanako," Rally said, staring up at the ceiling.

"She was a little girl here at the orphanage," Blitz said.

"Yeah. She was really sick, so Yusei would run out and get her any kind of medicine he could lay his hands on." Nerve said. "Just like how Nii-san had to do for me."

"It was leukemia she had, right?" Rally asked.

"That's right." Jack said.

"You know, when Martha had to tell Yusei that she passed away, he completely lost it." Crow said, staring at his feet. "She was only nine when she lost her battle."

"Yusei always tried to take care of everyone..." Rally said.

"Hanako was a very special girl," Nerve said. "I remember she was down-to-earth, and wise beyond her years, too."

"I always wondered how she managed to keep on smiling..." Rally said. "She was beautiful."

"She was what Martha calls 'simplest beauty'," Crow said.

"I think it's about time you kids went to bed." Blitz said, glancing at the clock.

_"Aw..."_

"Come on," Hikaru stood up already holding a droopy-eyed Hikari in her arms. She held out a hand to Rally. "I'll sing you a lullaby." she said as Rally took her hand.

"You've really got to stop babying him," Blitz mumbled.

"Just let Hikaru be Hikaru!" the raven-haired girl sung as she led the children into the hallway.

"You know Blitzu, you could learn a thing or two from Karu-chan." Nerve said. "You guys are having a baby, you know."

"And he's just lucky I haven't cut off his testicles yet," Genji said.

"Scaring the shit out of him is more full-filling than beating the shit out of him," Tenshi said.

"I'd better get you to bed, too," Genji said.

"Aw... but I'm not a kid!" Tenshi whined. "I'm fifteen!..." He pretended to give a cough when he covered his mouth with his hand. "I ain't tired..."

"Come on, Otouto," Genji said, picking up Tenshi by beneath his arms. "I think your head and a pillow need to spend some time together."

"Okay, Setsuna-Nii-san..." Tenshi tried to hide another yawn as Genji headed to the hallway.

Nightfall came. Soon after the others were all asleep, Jack dragged Yusei out of the house. He left a single note on the table: "We'll be back."

Jack powered up his D-Wheel quietly. Rather then having Yusei sit behind him on it, he pulled the thin boy onto his lap and secured an arm around him.

"Where are we going?" Yusei asked, his voice weak.

"Somewhere where we can be alone,"

* * *

**_"Come on, Yusei. Say _'Momma'_."_**

_**Yusei, who seemed to be far too old to be seated in a highchair, merely blinked his wide, almost emotionless blue eyes.**_

**_"Come on, sweetie. Say _'Momma'_." Hotaru said._**

_**"I don't think he's gonna talk much, Onee-chan," Hoshiko said, her blouse unbuttoned at the top, Tenshi breast-feeding from her.**_

_"Say **'Momma'**!"** Hotaru said, a pink rabbit puppet on her hand hopping around near Yusei's highchair tray. She smiled when she saw his eyes change.** "Momma wants you to hear you say **'Momma'**, Yusei-chan!"_

_**Yusei's eyes shut and his face scrunched as he screamed, tears beginning to fall down his cheeks.**_

_**"Yusei!! Sweetie, what's wrong?!" Hotaru asked. **"What's wrong?"** she asked in the rabbit's voice. Yusei then began screaming louder. Blinking, she realized it was the puppet that scared him and threw it across the kitchen, picking him up from the highchair. "It's okay, sweetie! Calm down, calm down!"**_

_**"What's wrong?!" Hiraku asked, running in with Setsuna in his arms.**_

_**"I was just trying to see if I could get Yusei to talk," Hotaru began, rocking him and shushing him. "But he got scared of that bunny puppet."**_

_**"Aw, Yusei," Hiraku placed Setsuna down onto his feet and wrapped his arms around Hotaru so Yusei was in-between them. "My brave boy... it's okay,"**_

_**"Papa," Setsuna whined, tugging on the bottom of Hiraku's lab coat. "I thought'ed we were gonna play together... you, me and Tenshi..."**_

_**"I'm sorry, Setsuna," Hiraku said, squatting down in front of the boy with tearing eyes. "Yusei's sick, remember? He needs his momma and me right now..."**_

_**"But Papa..." Setsuna sniffled as snot began dripping out of his nostrils. "You promised!"**_

_**"Setsuna-chan..." Hiraku began, wiping his eldest child's face with his handkerchief. "I'm sorry... I'll only be a little while, okay?"**_

_**"That's what you always say," Setsuna pouted, his grip on his red blanket tightening. "But what's so special about him? He's just a big baby!"**_

_**"Fudo Setsuna!!" Hoshiko scolded as she buttoned up her blouse. "What have I told you about being nice to all of your siblings?!"**_

_**"You're not his momma and you love him more than me!!" Setsuna screeched before he ran out of the kitchen.**_

_**"Nii-chan!" Tenshi said, crawling after him at a quick pace.**_

_**"I hate seeing him so upset..." Hiraku said, standing up again. He blinked when he felt Yusei reaching his hand onto his arm. "Okay, little lad, I gotcha..." he said, holding his son in his arms as he still shook and cried, sniffling.** "Ssssssssshhh... sssshh sssshh sssshh sssshh ssssssssshhhhh..."_

_**"What am I going to do, Onee-chan?" Hoshiko asked, holding onto the top of her blouse as she stood up, staring down at the floor. "I try so hard to let Setsuna know I love him as much as I love Tenshi and the others... I try so hard..."**_

_**"All siblings go through rivarly at some point, remember?" Hotaru said, stroking Yusei's hair. "You and I weren't exactly like peanut butter and jelly 24/7..."**_

_**"I think Setsuna's jealous of all of the attention you have to give to Yusei because of his quietness..." Hoshiko said.**_

_**"Who wouldn't be? Hikaru hates being away from him..." Hotaru said. "Yusei just needs... he just needs his momma and papa a little more than most children do. I know he's smart enough to talk... but his communication skills are just not there."**_

_**"It is possible he's a selective mute..." Hiraku said, gently rubbing the slumbering boy's back. "Sometimes something triggers a child to just not talk... it could be something he heard, he saw, or something we just can't explain, really..."**_

_**"I'd better put him and his sister down for their nap..." Hotaru said, taking the young boy from her husband's arms. "Hikaru!!" she called as she walked into the hallway.**_

_**After Hotaru was out of ear shot, Hiraku removed his lab coat with a sigh, brushing the hair from the right side of his face even though it just moved back in front of it.**_

_**"I think we're in over our heads, Hosh-chan..." he sighed as he sat down at the table nearby her. "Raising a family with three parents?... And with another little girl on the way..."**_

_**"Hiraku-kun," Hoshiko began, a smile on her face. "When you and Onee-chan married, you not only vowed to each other, but to me that we would stave through it all. We can only stick together... and no matter how hard it gets, we can do this."**_

_**"Hopefully after my current project is done, me being home more often will help us out," Hiraku said. "But the Godwin brothers need my help right now, so I can't back out. Rudger could beat the shit out of me while Rex cowers in fear."**_

_**"Come on, Rudger may be big, but you're not too shabby for a hakase." Hoshiko giggled like a young girl.**_

**_"I'd better go find Setsuna and talk to him..." Hiraku sighed, standing up. "He_ is_ just a boy who wants to spend time with his father... where's the crime in that?"_**

**_"If it were a crime, every child would have markers," Hoshiko retorted._**

* * *

**Knock knock knock.**

_**"Setsuna?"**_

_**Hiraku opened his sons' bedroom door.**_

_**Setsuna, whom seemed to be in the middle of telling Tenshi something, tightened his grip on his blanket and looked over to the door.**_

_**"Papa?" he asked, blinking. "Will you play with us now?"**_

**_"It _is_ nap time now, you know..."_**

_**Setsuna's face scrunched in a pout and he turned his head away, hugging his knees, his head resting on the top of them.**_

_**"What the mommas don't know won't hurt them, though." Hiraku said, closing the door behind himself.**_

_**"Huh?" Setsuna picked his head up, looking at his father again. His eyes shone. "Papa... you mean it?!" he asked excitedly.**_

_**Hiraku scooped up his boys and rocked them playfully.**_

_**"All aboard the Papa Train!!" he said, starting to run around the room.**_

* * *

As Genji opened the front door, he blinked.

"Yusei?" he asked.

The blackette, who had his head on his knees, picked his head up. Looking back at Genji, the corners of his mouth twitching showed he tried offering him a smile before he rested his head back down again.

"... I guess you didn't sleep so well, did you?" he asked, sitting down beside him.

"Iie..." Yusei responded; his brother had been able to read at least that much about him. "I saw Papa last night..."

"Huh?" Genji turned his head and tried to look at Yusei's face. "You saw him in a dream?... Heh, Karu says that when you dream of someone who has passed on it's them giving you a visit."

"It wasn't a dream... memories,"

"Memories?" Genji asked.

"... Gomen nasai..." Yusei whispered, beginning to shake. "Gomen nasai... Setsu-chan..."

"Huh?" Genji blinked. Upon sorting through his "new" memories, he recalled when Yusei did speak as a child, he called him "Setsu-chan". "What do you have to be sorry for?"

"I knew you were jealous... I always knew..." Yusei began. "All the attention I was given for being quiet... gomen nasai..."

"Y-Yusei, we were children back then. It's no big-"

"Papa was two-faced," Yusei continued. "Do you remember... remember when he would bring me to his work? Or to the doctor's?"

"I... I think so..." Genji responded.

"I can remember things from when I was as young as two months," Yusei said. "Around when Hikaru and I were five months old, he brought me with him to work one day..."

"Daijobu? You're shaking," Genji said, placing a hand on Yusei's shoulder. Immediately, Yusei jerked away and shrunk down into a little ball tighter.

"Rudger-sama, Godwin Rex's older brother, he terrified me... and he... he talked Papa into..." Yusei took in shaking breaths. "I never, ever spoke because Papa... he..."

"He what?" Genji asked, his eyes wide with anticipation.

"Papa experimented on me for the Momentum projects..." Yusei whispered. "Electric shocks... needles... various machines... but, somehow, I... I..."

Genji felt his throat tighten up.

"I could never find myself hating him for it..."

"Yusei, I..."

"That's why... I don't talk a lot... why I'm so closed off..." Yusei said, shaking. "When I came home, Momma and Papa would fuss and fuss to see if I would finally talk, but... although I **could**, I just _couldn't_. But, Setsu-chan, I remember you..."

"Yusei..."

Genji surprised his younger brother when he pulled him into his arms, holding him tightly... protectively.

"I was a fucking idiot... I never know how precious something of mine is to me until I almost lose it... and I've almost lost you several times, now..." Genji said, feeling Yusei's head resting against his neck. "I won't allow anything to happen to you again... no one's going to hurt you or take you away... I promise..."

"Zutto..." Yusei whispered.

"Huh?" Genji asked.

"... You were on my mind the most..." Yusei's arms slowly came up and around Genji's torso, holding onto him tightly. "I'm sorry for dragging you all into the Signer business... I should never have ever met Hikari..."

"Shut up with those words,"

Yusei found himself out of Genji's grasp a hand smacking across his face once. Upon lifting his head back up, he stared at him with wide eyes. Genji's expression was his typically pissed off face, only it seemed to be more than that to Yusei this time around.

"Yusei... you don't understand, do you?" Genji asked, his tone oddly soft, even for him.

"I'm just... trying to fix things..." Yusei said.

"Yusei..." Genji's birthmarked left arm reached to his brother, picking up his chin to stare their blue eyes together. "Fixing things doesn't mean you _**erase**_ what's already happened... all you can do is start _**new**_ and _**fresh.**_"

Yusei began to lower his head, but Genji picked it back up.

"I won't allow us to lose you... not again. Living without you was hell, truthfully..." Genji didn't allow himself to smile. "Karu and Kari are happier than they've been in a long time having you back, now... despite everything that's happened."

"How can they forgive me?..." Yusei asked.

"You don't need a reason for everything," Genji said. "Yusei, truthfully, we're all a family again, thanks to you..."

Yusei felt his body shaking as Genji embraced him again.

"Thank you so much, Yusei..."

And somehow, in some way, the burdens slowly began to lift...

But Kami knows that it was _definitely_ **not** the end.

* * *

_**OWARI**_

... Jesus, it took me _**MONTHS**_ to write _**THIS?**_... T.T Damn...

Zeon: It's not your fault; you've had your own shiite to sift through lately.

Gash: Yeah, well... I feel terrible for putting off some of my work, such as this and _I'd Come For You_, which I am _**ALSO**_ stuck on...

Aki: I thought you were going somewhere with it.

Gash: No; the stuff I wrote was crap. Complete and utter crap, so I deleted some of it and restarted.

Skylar: Well, at least the epilogue revealed some things... more will come out in the sequel.

Gash: Yeah... I just _**NEEDED**_ to get this down... and it took me so damn long... forgive me, guys? I promise, the sequel will be much better!... And I think that the sequel will end it; so, the Silver Saga is a trilogy.

Aki: "Silver Saga"?

Gash: Yeah; I've decided to call the series of stories I wrote, which started with _Silver Lining_, the Silver Saga. Cuz, y'know... it started out as silver, and now I'm debating on the next title; probably _Silver Storm_ or _Silver Clouds_... I'm leaning towards the second one. But first, I'm going to have to plan it out.

Zeon: Yes indeed.

Gash: But, well, I'd better leave things here for now...

Skylar: We hope you all enjoyed the story!!

Gash: No matter how suckish it was to be written through my writer's block. And to think, tomorrow I'm posting a whole other new story...

Zeon: Miss Gash-chan is quite the busy-body.

Aki: Who also failed gym class.

Skylar: How do you do that? All you have to do is show up.

Gash: My school system sucks... T.T And my teacher's a bastard!! But really, I'm going to try really hard in the future to keep the sequel written smoothly and more on time and planned!!

Skylar: Cross your heart.

Gash: Wish to fly.

Gash and Skylar: Stick a poodle in your eye!!

Zeon: And this is the end.

Gash: (Singing) _**This is the end...  
Beautiful friend, the end...**_

_**This is the end...  
My only friend, the end...**_

Aki: (Shuts off CD player) Enough Doors music for you.

Gash: _Fiiiiiiine_... review, people. You know the drill.

Zeon: Review or you will never live to see the sequel.


End file.
